Monday, December 19, 2011

Happy Holidays!

It's official. I have achieved my goal as a professional triathlete.



I have a coffee sponsor.

I'm really happy to announce my newest sponsor for the 2012 season, The Koffee House!

They are an independent local cafe (Wellington & Southdale, London) with by far the best coffee in town...all fair trade organic. Definitely the place to go for us snobby coffee drinker triathletes, and only the cleanest healthiest stuff. Big thanks to Alex (whose brother is local competitive athlete and my occasional training buddy Chris Pickering) for supporting the local athletic scene. Now stop drinking crappy Starbucks!

Beyond that. Well I'm still insanely busy with store opening at MEC London but at least I'm finally paying the training bills! I'm managing to squeeze in training and I'm putting a much bigger focus on winter training on the bike than in previous years. I've developed my strength on the bike by riding a few hours a week through the winter, so we'll see what happens when I more than double that.

Things are rolling along really well for mid-December and I'm looking forward to building on everything in the new year. I've made a ton of changes to my training, racing plans and my philosophy on it all over the last few months and I've never been more excited to start a race season. Just chipping away one day at a time.

And with it being the Holday Season, I figured I would leave you with some Chrismas ACMFRP!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Oopsies!

I said I was going to try harder to update more frequently and I've decidedly failed at that so far.

So what's been going on with me...

The first thing I have to mention is my amazing new sponsor for next season. Jake Campbell of C&C Insurance is providing me with a ton of support for my 2012 travel plans and I can't thank him and C&C enough. I feel awful for not recognizing their support sooner, but I have been crazy busy! I also have to mention Jake just finished his first Ironman at IM Florida in 11:05!! It was amazing to see his dedication and improvements throughout the year.

Besides that news, I've officially given up on living the dream and I'm now working full time at the new Mountain Equipment Co-op coming to London. The hours have been crazy with store set-up, but it's a very cool place to work and my boss is talented local cyclist Marten Mann. It has been a huge challenge to fit training in around 50+ hour work weeks lately but it will all be worth it when the store opens up next week! I'm excited to be a part of such a forward thinking company, and show off "my" bike department :)
As for training, well nothing is particularly interesting this time of year. Back to the basics for a while before ramping training back up for the new year. The interesting part has been trying to fit in a modest 14-16 hours of training in with my busy work schedule. I guess it's a little taste of what most age group athletes deal with on a daily basis...it's not the first time I've been training while working full time, and some of those around me have basically said "welcome to the real world"...but it is the first time I've been working so much while trying to train at an elite level. It's really not easy, and the biggest part is trying not to get stressed out over how busy things are or wishing I had more time to train. All of my workouts are done at 6-7:30am, 7-10pm, or sacrificing my lunch break if I have 3 workouts in a day. It has forced me to really keep my recovery and nutrition and dedication in check. So not necessarily a bad thing.
Gabbi Whitlock and the Balance Point Training group have also been a big part of maintaining my consistency, and swimming with the group is already bringing me some great improvements in the water. It's a great group and Gabbi is a fantastic and underrated swim coach. It feels so good to get faster and more efficient in the pool...especially with a slightly lighter focus on my swim training with my racing plans next year.
My bike and run training is pretty low key right now, with it being November and given my work schedule. I wish I could say I was banking 5 rides a week right now but it's just not feasible or realistic this time of year if I want to stay consistent all winter. I'm looking forward to finding the time to fit more training in soon and I'm really motivated to get fit on the bike for the early season and keep building all the way through the summer. I'm really looking forward to giving long course racing a go next year and I know that my bike training will be key.
So that's all for now, hopefully soon I can talk more about training and less about how busy I am. But that's life!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Like a Kid's First Allowance



This weekend I took part in one of the most fun events on the calendar...and it happens to be about a 3 minute drive from my house (and the same course that I did my first bike race on earlier this year, and my first ever run race in 2006).

On Sunday I joined in on the festivities with Balance Point Training for the Halloween Haunting 5k in London. It's a small event where the costumes are more important than your time...the way it should be. There were some pretty ridiculous costumes out there, mostly from the BPT crew. They are so much fun to train and race with!!

In an attempt to find something moderately humorous yet still capable of running in, I decided to be Dave Scott (its really a shame you can't see the surprisingly ok stache from this not-purchased photo). Unfortunately since runners and especially triathletes are pretty much geeks to begin with I more or less just fit in with the crowd. At least a couple triathletes there got what I was going for.

I'm proud to say that not only was I the fastest person who dressed up, but I picked up some prize money in the process! Not bad for a Sunday morning after being sick for three weeks. And believe it or not its the first time I've ever won prize money! But before even trying to calculate what percentage $50 is towards my flight to Rev3 Costa Rica, I put it straight in the piggy bank (ie. my Visa bill) and chalked it up as the first race I've officially covered all my expenses in :) Gotta start somewhere, right?

My girlfriend Amanda also won $50 as 2nd overall female (behind a very strong Speed River runner)!! And after the race BPT went out for an awesome year end/Amanda's home for the weekend/ excuse to eat glutinously - brunch. And its a good thing we did, because a few hours later we were all back for a swim TT. And just like the race in the morning, just about everyone but me posted a PB. But I'm happy with where I'm at for this time of year - not fast, not slow, but very hungry for more. This week is my last of kinda-offseason-ish training before getting right back at it, and with my plan for an early season race there's no time to waste!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone again for all the support, encouragement and kind words while I take on this journey I call being a professional triathlete. I'm going to try to update this thing a little more often through my weekly training, I know there are some people actually look forward to my ramblings so the least I can do in return is show my appreciation!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Fall Training

I haven't done any training updates in a while! And since I'm hanging out in my new triathlon brainstorming headquarters, and since I'm finally starting to get things rolling after fighting a cold off and on for the better part of a month it seems like a good time to update.

I must admit its a little daunting to have full responsibility of my training and programming. I love the freedom and sense of control, knowing that its up to me to reach my goals. But it can be a little disconcerting wondering if I'm doing things right or missing anything. The only security I have is knowing that there are no secrets to training, even at the highest level. Stay consistent, enjoy what you're doing and the rest takes care of itself.

It seems rare that I've had both those elemets coexist over the past couple seasons, but I'm finally starting to figure it out. Right now I'm in a run focus gearing up for a couple fun fall run races...nothing crazy but I'm running almost every day and I'm starting to feel fast. First up is the Halloween Haunting 5k in London this weekend...the first run race I ever did 5 years ago. Having been sick lately I have no idea what kind of 5k shape I'm in but I'm looking forward to finding out...and looking forward to the costume I've got planned.

After that I'll likely do the 10k at Hamilton Road2Hope and give the distance a real go for the first time in a long while. Then I'll finally start to get back into full tri training. Just like last fall my big focus in the pool is working on form and efficiency, and despite not being in the water much lately I'm swimming well. The bike is another story...I feel pretty pathetic on my P3 right now but with my planned training that will change quickly.

I've already put together my basic training program for next season and its got me really excited for racing already! So I've decided to go out on a limb and post my planned 2012 race schedule for those who care :)

Rev3 Costa Rica
Rev3 Knoxville
Binbrook Tri
Welland Half Iron
5150 Toronto (not yet confirmed)
Bracebridge Tri
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead
Wasaga Beach Tri

So some of this is still tentative (Toronto is still only a rumor at this point, but sounds really promising) but I'm looking forward to committing to my season much sooner and with more concrete goals than in previous years - one of my problems this past year, and the reason why I feel the need to post this.

All non-drafting, I really want to see what I can do when I focus on my strengths in training and racing. And Steelhead will be my big goal for the season. I love long course training and I really want to gain some experience to see where I can take it. I've always known in the back of my mind that long course would be my direction in triathlon, and next season will be my first big step in that direction.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Back to training!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Busy Days

Well its still the off season but I've managed to keep myself pretty busy lately. The big one is the search for support and sponsors, and this is the time of year for most sponsors in triathlon. So far I've already been very lucky and have secured a key sponsor for my 2012 season.

I'm thrilled to announce that C&C Insurance will be supporting me next year. It seems to be a great fit as I ride by their office every morning on my bike! Jake from C&C is racing his first Ironman in a few weeks in Florida...all the best to him! I'm hoping to have a few more announcements in the coming weeks :)

I've also been kept pretty busy with work...I know what you're thinking - employment is against my principles. But running and napping rarely pay the bills. This past weekend I put some serious hours in at the Toronto Bike Show with MSZ, and as a bonus for my hard work they were generous enough to provide me with a bonus to upgrade the new TT rig!



I got some very nice comments on my pretty new toy in my last post, and since I've made it even faster looking I figured I'd tell you more about it...for all my techy friends. I take a lot of pride in the build and aesthetics of my bikes, and I'm very particular with the quality of everything, so I prefer to make the investment to build up my own bikes with my choice of components rather than ride a sponsored bike. So no shameless pitches here, I just feel like talking about my work!

2011 P3 Frameset - in my opinion this is the best no BS bike in the world. No built in water bottles, no useless hidden brake calipers. Its just an intelligently designed, extremely aero and very comfortable bike. My gimp back approves.

SRAM Force/Rival Components - After riding Shimano since my first road bike, I started riding SRAM last year on my road bike (Red) and I was instantly a convert. Super smooth shifting and a better feel than Shimano in my opinion. When its dialled in Red shifts faster than DI2, and my Force/Rival combo is lighter and much cheaper than Ultegra.

Wheels - I really like Mavic wheels for their durability and coolness factor. I ride Aksium training wheels along with a Powertap wheel, and for races I have Cosmic Carbone Pros (only produced for one year). Similar to a Zipp 404 but better hubs and a stronger rim. And as a recent addition I now have the option to roll a Zipp 900 disc, just for a little extra speed.

ISM Adamo Road saddle - I switched to the ISM earlier this year when I was searching for a seat option that would keep my bum and my back happy over 90k in the aerobars. It took me the better part of a month to get the seat and rail angles where I wanted, and I also pinched the nose pieces together with a zip tie to get the front end narrower. Its a very different feel but I find I can rotate my hips more with the ISM which saves my back a ton. I've also added an XLab cage mount to keep the frame clean. I've never been in a wind tunnel but common sense tells me its more aero.

3T custom front end - I'm really finicky with my aerobars. They have to fit to the millimeter and still look funky. So I've taken a 3T Aura Pro integrated bar and replaced the narrow unadjustable pads with Profile Design F-22 pads and J2 clips to get the reach and pad width I want. Really comfortable but coolness factor remains high. As you can see I've also ultilized the cheapest ($4 bottle cage, 100 for $1 zip ties from the dollar store) and most aerodynamic bottle setup you can get.




OK no more tech talk.

As for training, I'm in a bit of a run focus for another few weeks gearing up for a couple run races. Nothing crazy but I'm putting in some decent run weeks - up to about 100k - just for fun before getting serious about tri training again in November.

I'm looking forward to being in the pool 5-6 days a week between the UWO Tri Club and Balance Point Training to build on a big growing year in the water. I'm starting to get an idea of what swimming is supposed to feel like, and with the guidance of Coach Gabbi I'm really looking forward to seeing some progress through the winter.

But the bike is where I'll be putting a ton of focus on my training, likely riding 6-7 days a week. No more half ass draft legal bike workouts, I want to be strong on the bike next year for my non-drafting and long course races. I'll be doing some training and racing with the CoachChris.ca cycling team as part of their development racing team, and I'll be banking some epic rides with a good friend of mine and strong long course athlete Chris Pickering.

So far my little experiment of taking my programming into my own hands seems to be working out fairly well. I really like knowing I have complete control over what I'm doing and its keeping me very focused. No one's going to give me hell for half-assing a workout...its all on me. I already have my plan for next year's races, which will likely include two or three Rev3 events and 70.3 Muskoka. I know...WTC...grrrrrr. But the reality is its the closest high end race to me with the best chance of at least breaking even with my travel expenses. And in all honesty, I would consider it a huge success and an accomplishment as an elite triathlete next year if I managed to break even with my expenses between prize money and sponsor support - its not easy. Maybe then I can really call myself a professional athlete :)

I'm really very excited for racing next year.

Monday, October 10, 2011

My New Training Partner

Alright its official. I have a problem.



I'm a tri geek.

If you're counting this is now 5 bikes in the past year, and 7 since I got into triathlon. 4 years ago.

After a lot (probably too much) of thought on where I want to focus my efforts in this sport I decided that trusty ol' Cervelo P1 aka Wildfire was just not going to cut it anymore. It was time for a serious non-drafting machine. So instead of pinching pennies (or my Visa card) and second guessing my decision, I just got the best/fastest/no BS bike out there.

Having worked at a bike shop for two years now I've become a bit of a perfectionist with bike performance and aethetics, and now I am with aerodynamics too. Along with a funky disc for flat and fast courses I'm now more confident and comfortable on my bike than ever before. I really can't wait to race on this thing.

And don't worry, good old P1 isn't going to go unused. Even though I retired it after just one year of racing, it is going to become my newest and by far coolest winter project yet. Stay tuned for more info!

In other news I've already had great response in my search for support and sponsors for next season. No details to be mentioned yet but I'm going to have some great support and will be racing with some cutting edge equipment next year.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Changing Seasons...

...and pretty much everything else it seems.

Sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while. Despite having some down time in training I've managed to keep myself pretty busy these days between some final races, work, and gearing up for 2012 already!

This season has been a hard one to try to figure out. I had some not so proud moments, but there were a lot of big steps forward, both mentally and physically, and I finally started to compete to my potential and throw down some good races. I was really happy with how the tri season turned out, but after a lot of thought and finding some direction in my training and racing, I felt that something needed to change going into next year.

I've always liked coaching and putting together training programs, and having found my direction in the sport and starting to understand what it takes to reach my goals, I felt it was best to take my training and programming into my own hands and see where I can take things. It had nothing to do with my coach - James is a great coach and I've learned a ton from him and love the LPC group. But between having a better understanding of my own training, and my training opportunities here in London, I'm - mostly - confident in my decision. And credit to James for being so understanding of my sometimes crazy thoughts - I'm sure I will be calling on him for advice more than a few times.

So I'm once again a "free agent". It's a little daunting to put this responsibility on myself on top of my training and racing, but I have a great group of coaches and athletes around me and I'm looking forward to next year being my strongest by far. I'm currently in a run focus until the end of October before really getting tri training rolling for some early season races in 2012.

Besides all that...I'm in the process of seeking out new sponsors for next season and things are looking great already (still top secret!) This time last season I decided to focus on myself and my training rather than deal with the occasional stress and distractions of sponsors. But with a good season of racing under my belt and high goals for next year, the support will be necessary for me to get where I want to be. Hopefully I'll have more news on that soon.

Until then, back to training and I'll update some of my upcoming fall running when I decide that something is interesting enough to share! I'll leave you with some more ACMFRP.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Season in Photos

I usually try to post a few pictures in each race report through the year to break up the monotony (even if it means occasionally using the print screen function rather than paying $40 for a picture of myself :) ). But I was admittedly a little lazy with it this year, so it seems like a fitting time to throw together a bit of a collage of the year! There might be a few I've previously posted but here's my complete season in photos. Enjoy!


I started off the year with my first ever road race. 2nd spot here, trying to instigate a breakaway in the Springbank O-Cup


Getting some experience putting my sign sprints to the test. Finished 4th, 2nd in main field sprint. At least I had the prettiest bike in the race!



First tri of the year was in beautiful Connecticut for Rev3 Quassy. PB swim of 22:04


Off for the hardest Olympic distance run ever!


Tri #2 - Leamington Tomatoman (AG Provincials). I made a tactical mistake lining up on the start line and was forced to fight the current and miss the leaders by the first turn.


Trying to muscle out a fast 5k in the middle of a big 70.3 training block. Good enough for 3rd behind two strong boys.


I'm using a non-descript photo so as not to embarrass her, but I have to mention my amazing girlfriend. In her first year of "serious" training she has won her age group in every race she's done, including Provincial Champ in both sprint and Olympic distances. Here she is having a stellar race in Welland, the day before my royal mental f**kup (ie. the Welland Half).


A month off to regroup before Bala Falls. Accomplishing a huge mental goal - first out of the water.


Up by 2+mins coming off the bike


As I came into T2 MSC's announcer told the crowd "now watch Ryan's transition and how incredibly fast he is in-and out". Pressure was on but I still pulled off my usual fastest T2 split :)


By far my best race of the year and maybe ever, and a huge mental victory.


And my support staff, who drank my 7up when I went to the podium


The only photo evidence from Ottawa Draft-Legal Provincials. Probably a good thing


Cobourg Sprint Tri - 56 degree water!


Feeling pretty flat on the day but I knew what needed to be done on the run. Took the lead at 2k for my 2nd win of the year


Final tri of the year - Chatham Bulldog. Only a few seconds back from some fast swimmers, getting closer!


To Coach James's astonishment, on race morning I pulled out my vintage 1999 Team Canada Worlds singlet (a hidden gem I found in some old stock uniforms at AG Worlds in 2008). Must have been good luck, I averaged 43.5km/h on the bike and ran a PB 5k. But only good enough for 3rd.




Lots of ups and downs, lots of fun, and plenty to learn from and build on for 2012.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Change in Plans

Well, it's been an up and down season this year. And the biggest problem I've had is the number of changes I've made to "the plan". I don't know if anyone else out there has had a race season without an A-race or at least a significant goal, but let me tell you. It sucks.

In March I thought I had it all figured out...2 USAT 2012 events, 4 draft-legal races and a couple more non-drafting prize money races. Maybe I was reaching too far. But everything kind of went to s**t when the Miami Speed Tri was postponed and the race committee wouldn't even acknowledge my lost expenses after advertising my presence at the race (seriously, did they know I'm a poser anyway?). Then the Tobago Rainbow Tri cut their prize money in half two weeks before the race...luckily I noticed as I was about to book my flight there.

Things change, so what. Frustrating but nothing I can do about it. So I just put my head down and decided to essentially dedicate the year to "putting in the time." I know where I'm at in the sport; I've worked hard and earned some personal successes but I have big goals and the only way to reach them is to work my ass off for many more years.

The problem with that was I had very little motivation to actually race. I much prefered the idea of going out on my own to put in the time when no one was looking. I went through about ten iterations of a proposed race season, and by the time May came around I basically had no choice but to simply enter races as they came and what fit in my schedule.

Every race I actually competed in this year I was happy with my performance. The only "bad" tri's I had all year (ie. wasn't top 3) were Rev3 where I had a PB swim and one of the top run splits, and Draft-Legal Provincials where I bridged a 90 second gap to a pack, puked my guts out on the run and still finished. My real problem was the races I didn't actually do. I missed two based on how I felt that morning, and skipped another after missing a couple workouts the week prior and was concerned about my "lost" fitness.

Overall I feel I had a very successful season having figured out my mental demons, finally started to see the improvements I had been working at for so long, swim bike and run PB's in training and racing, and winning a couple along the way. I just struggled with motivation to race because I had nothing to work towards beside the essentially arbitrary goal of getting faster.

So with that in mind along with life getting in the way, I've decided to cut my tri season a little short and end things on a good note with Bulldog as my last of the year. I'm taking a couple weeks off structured training to regroup then start a bit of a run focus through the fall with the goal of learning how to run a 10k. After that it's right back to work for next season, which I have already set with a different focus from the last two seasons. But I'm keeping that top secret for now.

On that note, I'm undertaking another winter project to keep me busy and make sure I'll be fast next year! Details to come shortly...

Monday, August 22, 2011

I Hope You Like Race Reports

So I know I said I was going to take a couple weeks off racing to get a solid block of training in before Montreal. Races were going well but I wanted to make sure I'm more fit than ever for the Esprit.

Well...half way through last week while everyone else was heading out to beautiful Kelowna for Nationals I got a little anxious and decided I wanted to jump in just one more race before Montreal. Four tri's in a month? Why not!

So after a pretty solid week of training with some strong swims I hit the road once again to the Chatham Bulldog Sprint Triathlon. It's a very grassroots independent race and my sole reason for racing again was to gain the confidence of a solid swim in a race, as my swimming has been a little inconsistent despite the general upward trend.

Turns out that a few fast guys decided to show up this year, and on a super flat fast course in cool conditions I can say with confidence that it was the best drag race the Bulldog has ever seen!

I decided in my swim warmup that my focus would be staying smooth and efficient since I tend to try and power through the first 200m then have trouble getting a smooth rhythm after. So after a quick start I found Josh Seifarth's feet at the back end of a small lead pack. I was swimming fast but comfortable through the first 500. Eventually Josh pulled away and I came out of the water 30-40 seconds down on a pack of three very strong swimmers.

The bike course was awesome with two flat loops through the provincial park on new pavement...definitely one of the fastest courses out there. I was 3rd onto the bike with no one around me after the first 2km. I had no idea how I was riding because rather than my powertap wheel I was rolling Zipp 1080s (thanks to MultiSport Zone), and my Garmin wasn't giving me accurate speeds through the tree cover. I had trouble finding a rhythm over the first lap and thought I was riding pretty poorly but I came through the first 10k under 15 minutes, and found my legs on the second lap was around 43km/h average over the second 10k. I told you it was fast!

I came off the bike in 27:40 (results had me at 29 low including transitions) and hit the run with 2nd and 3rd right with me and Josh about 40 seconds up the road. As I left T2 James told me to stay with Mike Murray to run down Josh. There was tons of support at the race with Coach James and some of his athletes, Gabbi Whitlock and most of her club, and even a surprise appearance from my sponsor Darryl from MSZ.

Turns out Mike was a little too quick for me and dropped me at about 1k (he went on to run 16:40). My legs were pretty trashed at 2k and I started coming up with the excuses...all the racing I've done lately...maybe it would be ok to slow down just a bit...no one's close enough to run me down. But I managed to shut the little voices out and test my run fitness. I felt good at the turnaround and really pushed myself to find the stride I'm capable of.

At about 15k into the bike I checked my watch and saw that it was going to be really close to try and break an hour for the first time. I started the run knowing that if I ran well I could do it. At 4k I was at 57:00 so it was going to be tough...but still possible. I kept focused and felt strong and went for it. I ended up stopping the clock at 1:00:07, just a few seconds off 2nd and less than a minute down from the winner, with a PB 17:31 5k. We managed to make it quite the race for top 3.

I was happy with my effort and took some big positives out of the race. Swam with a good front pack for most of the swim (and felt RELAXED), rode well despite some fatigue and PB'd the run. I'll take 3rd, knowing I'm going in the right direction and just a few seconds off some strong athletes.

So now I'm REALLY going to take a couple weeks off racing to focus on getting those 7 seconds back and gun for sub-2:00 in Montreal. Thanks to everyone who came out to support (especially my road trip buddy) and making another fun race in a great season!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Cobourg Sprint

Another weekend, another race. It's almost as if this is my job or something!

I always do my best every year to fit Cobourg in my race schedule. It's not a big event but it's one of the first races I entered and I've been back almost every year since. It's my favourite race for the beautiful venue/town and great course, and the guys at Multisport Canada always do an outstanding job putting it on.

When I got to the race site there was quite a bit more confusion, stress and general panic than usual. The water had turned overnight and the temperature had dropped to 55.6 degrees (usually mid-70s at this race) and wetsuits were mandatory (for good reason). I didn't mind in the least...I like fun challenges. But there were more than a few people pissed off at the world that the water was so cold. I don't get people who get so wrapped up in things as trivial (and uncontrollable) as water temperature at a race. To me that's why triathlon is so cool - everything can go to sh*t - and I just embrace it.

So I decided it wasn't worth a "warm" up in the water and did some dynamic stretching on the beach. When the horn went off I began to understand (just a little) why so many people were freaking out. It was COLD. There's always an initial shock when you hit water like that, but after about 200m I started to get my breathing under control. But as my hands and feet started to go numb I was getting bad pains from the bone in my foot that I broke last year. They made it a two loop swim due to the conditions, and not only did I have no idea how I was swimming with numb hands in rough water, but I wasn't sure if I had reinjured my foot or it was just sensitive to the cold. I was rather perplexed!

Luckily I survived the first lap and my foot was fine running through the sand...although my goggles had completely fogged up with the change in temperature and I more or less did a trip/belly flop diving in for the second time. I was second out of the water with what seemed like a disappointing swim, but really I have no idea how to judge it with the swim split being so meaningless in the conditions.

I was 45 seconds down getting on the bike and figured I would put a couple minutes on everyone over the 20k. But my legs didn't really want to respond and I had trouble staying over 280W (my goal was >300W avg). I put time into everyone else but felt like I was getting nowhere on the guy up the road. So I just focused on riding the uphills strong and descending fast. I think I have a lot of trouble finding a rhythm over a 20k ride, I need something longer to get going.

I figured I hadn't put any time into the leader getting off the bike and thought that if I put 15 seconds into him in transition I could be patient on the run and steadily take off 10sec/km. I came off the bike 30 seconds down so I was confident with where I was, although I really didn't want the race to come down to the run because I had a few hard runs the week prior and my calves were still pretty shot and didn't know how well I could run off the bike. So I stayed patient and relaxed and by 2k (just about when it started to get HOT) I was already in the lead and just maintained a good but controlled effort for win #2 in 3 races. And some more fun with post-race interviews :)

Overall I have to admit I wasn't thrilled with any one aspect of the race. I wasn't fast and I didn't race half as well as I did in Bala a few weeks ago. But I can definitely build off getting it done in tough conditions and reacting to feeling pretty flat on the day. At this point I want to keep racing every weekend but I'm going to take a couple weeks off to get some good training in before the Esprit.

I regret not setting a more concrete race schedule this summer after hardly racing June-July and now wanting to hit every event I can. So next year I'll put a lot more effort into planning out my season, likely around a couple longer distance events. The more I race the more I feel that long course is going to be my strength.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Next Up

Well I had been planning on heading down to Windsor for a shot at some prize money at the Tecumseh Triathlon last weekend. But my body and brain were ready for a break after two weekends of racing and a little over 20 hours in the car. It seems like I've been skipping out on a lot of races this year...but the truth is it's part of being an elite triathlete - knowing when NOT to race.

So I got back to business and have gotten two good weeks of training in, including some fun miles up in Muskoka once again as I helped out at Multisport Canada's Bracebridge event, and did my best as support crew for Amanda. She also learned a tough lesson that racing can give you a serious mental and physical ass kicking sometimes, but it's been inspiring to see such a positive attitude towards the sport throughout the season. But she will be embarrassed if I write any more about her so I'll get back to the point.

I've been thinking about my training this summer and I feel like I haven't been working nearly as hard as I'm used to, yet I'm much faster/stronger/more efficient in all sports. Sometimes I freak out that I haven't been doing enough, but I think I'm finally learning the definition of consistency...or at least applying it properly. I must be getting better and practicing what I preach because I can think of very few training sessions this year that felt "epic" or even out of the ordinary. I'll even get frustrated when I know I've gone too hard for a certain session.

I'm getting tired of being a training champion and I prefer to actually transfer my fitness to strong races. But every once in a while I'll get a reminder in my training that I'm headed in the right direction - like actually doing a full main set on 1:30 pace time, or average 42-45km/h for long intervals on the bike, or hold sub 3:10s for my favourite run workout (hilly 2k reps).

So up next is just a small event but my very favourite race in the world...MSC's Cobourg sprint tri. It's one of the prettiest race venues out there with a course that's tailored to my strengths...hard bike and fast run. I haven't raced as much as I would like by mid-August, but I've been injury free all summer, I've put together by far the strongest and most consistent year of training since I started the sport, and I'm very excited to see what I can put down in my final races of the year.

One final thing...it has been FAR too long since my last ACMFRP (awesome canadian music for recovery purposes) post!! So I'm leaving you with a beauty this time:


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Provincials

Quick recap for this one since there isn't much to discuss.

Ever since this event last year I had been looking forward to doing it again, another year stronger and especially after last week's little confidence boost in winning Bala. But there are so many variables in draft legal racing that I was just looking forward to mixing it up and putting in a solid effort.

After an absurdly long drive I got to the race site the day before to find that I wouldn't be able to get a pre-race swim in due to dangerously high levels of e.coli in the water. But it was made pretty clear at the pre-race briefing that we were swimming regardless of the risk. I don't mean to knock the race staff too much because they do work very hard to put this race on for developing/elite athletes. But it was a little disconcerting.

Race morning came around and everything felt pretty good in my warmup. I really wasn't nervous at all before the race, actually I was much more nervous last week for Bala. Everything felt routine and I was just ready to go.

Since I was one of only a few elite/U23's in comparison to the large number of juniors I had a good starting number and had a good position on the start line. But within literally the first second of the race I experienced the first of many times I got "Wiltshire'd".

As the gun went off the athlete behind me - rather than even attempting a swimming motion - grabbed my ankle with both hands and pulled me backwards. As I attempted to retake my position I was intentionally kicked by two more people. How do I know it was intentional? Well most swimmers don't kick with their heels in a normal swim stroke.

I did my best not to let it bother me and just tried to make up ground a little at a time, but I was absolutely disgusted by what went down in that swim. Many of the 40+ juniors were in their first draft-legal race. Maybe it was just some inexperienced/over-excited juniors, I call it blatant lack of respect and sportsmanship and it has no place in this sport, and I wish I had seen their names.

Anyway.

I'll admit that despite trying to shake all that off, I simply didn't have a good swim. Last year my swims were consistently bad. This year I'm just inconsistent...I guess I'll take it.

I was well back exiting the swim and made up 4 or 5 places on the 500m run up to T1. I was in no man's land getting on the bike with a few solo guys ahead of me, a line of stragglers behind me and a 5-6 man pack 1:10 up the road. I rode through another 3 or 4 guys by 2k in and realized that this far back in the race I wouldn't have anyone to work with on the bike. Chase 3 was barely in sight but it was either sit up and wait for a weak pack, or ride myself blind and see if I could put a minute into a 6-man group on my own.

At the first turnaround (5k) I knew at that effort (I averaged close to 45km/h to that point) I would either have to catch them soon or I would completely blow up less than 20 minutes into my race. The next 5k was just staying focused while I was riding at max effort until I finally bridged up on a small hill at 10k. We made a group of about 7 guys and for the last lap I just tried to recover enough to not be useless on my pulls, although the pace of the group was not very hot.

Lead the group into T2 and my legs actually felt pretty decent. But within 50m of the run I had to try to hold back throwing up. By 100m I had to completely stop and emptied my stomach on the side of the run course while my pack ran by. I had swallowed quite a bit of water (and ecoli) in the rough swim and with my effort on the bike my stomach gave in.

I couldn't move or breath for about 2 minutes while I was throwing up...and had to make the decision to either walk 100 meters back to transition and mope that my race at Provincials was done, or suffer through the run while everyone was passing me. Not much of a decision there.

Once I got rolling again I saw James who clearly was wondering why I was 2 minutes behind the group I lead into transition and I told him "I puked up all my breaky!". He told me just to focus on an even split and push through. A few hundred meters later I saw Craig Taylor who must have seen that I was suffering (or just felt bad that I was so far behind) and said "Be tough Ryan". Exactly what I needed to hear.

I was desperate to get some water in me after all that so I was just trying to survive to the aid station. And just my luck, no one could be bothered to set up the aid station for our race. Oh well, time to soldier on. I managed to get my legs moving a bit just before the turnaround, but about a minute later I had to pull over again and purged the rest of the ecoli I ingested earlier. Got going again, and started to find my legs through the cramps and heaving.

I finally crossed the finish line, 5+ minutes back of where I wanted to be, and managed to throw up one more time before finally finding some water. Turns out that - not counting the time that I spent on the side of the road puking - I ran about an 18:45 5k.

Old Ryan would be pretty pissed off about all that. But I'm actually ok with it. That was probably the toughest race I've endured...worst swim start I've ever been in, solo for most of the bike, sick on the run. But I sucked it up and did what had to be done. No excuses.

I vaguely recall mentioning that this was going to be brief. Sorry.

So with that little kick in the ass and a wake-up call that I'm still nowhere near where I need to be to find any success in draft-legal racing, I'm going to get reacquainted with my tri bike. Next up is the Tecumseh triathlon, then maybe a small tune-up in late August before the Esprit tri in Montreal. I'm hoping to find a good Olympic non-drafting race to finish off the year, but the verdict is still out on that.

If you're still reading I just want to share one more thing. My support crew from Bala!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Bala Falls

Every time my training/racing/attitude needs a kick in the ass Muskoka seems to the the place to go for me. I've been lucky enough this summer to have beautiful accomodations in Bala Falls aka "The Cranberry Capital of Ontario" that gave me a mental recharge after Welland along with some great training in the lakes and hills. And last weekend I was up again for one of my favourite races.

Last year the Bala Falls Triathlon was the race that really got my season rolling after an inconsistent first half of summer. I had another slow start this year...I haven't had any bad races this year, I've just been inconsistent. Either I race well or I don't even make it to the start line. So I was looking forward to Bala to set my attitude straight in racing and shed my own expectations that have been killing my performances.

Anyway...this is a race report and not another self-reflective rant.

The recent heat wave in Ontario has had two consequences: 1. lots of complaining about the heat, and 2. water temperatures have warmed up enough that almost all races aren't wetsuit legal (a rare occurance in Canada). The water on race morning was measured at 28 degrees, so being one of the stronger swimmers in this race (it's still strange for me to think that) I was just fine with it being no wetsuits.

Race strategy was to hit the swim and bike very hard and just play the run by ear, holding back if I felt I was digging a hole for the upcoming week. Within the first 25 meters of the swim I found myself swimming very comfortably in the lead. Generally this doesn't happen to me. And secretly being first out of the water in a triathlon has been a huge mental goal for me ever since I started taking swimming seriously (2-3 years ago I was a 28-min 1500 swimmer). But I just stuck to my race plan of swimming hard, and to my astonishment I was still leading at the first turn. Hmmm, better go fast and stay ahead!

Bala isn't a crazy competitive race, but there are 500+ athletes from across Ontario so chances are a few of them are fast. When I made the turn back to shore it crossed my mind that I might actually be first out of the water. So I kept the pace high and was thrilled when I hit the beach to a great crowd, first out with 30 seconds back to the next swimmer. Triathlon goal #1 complete. Goals 2 (win a Multisport Canada race) and 3 (win a World Championship race) still pending.

I hit the bike hard and was confident I was riding well. I used a road bike for this race last year and really appreciated the difference a fast tri bike and aggressive position makes...and maybe some extra fitness too (apparently 4 minutes worth over last year's 30k time). I had no one around me but was motivated that I was putting time into the MSC bike course vehicle on all the downhills. By the turnaround I was about 2 minutes up on 2nd but I was still riding scared. At about 22k I got to see Amanda ride by as she cheered me on (she kicked ass in a relay with her pops).

I had a big smile on my face when I got back to transition, realizing what it feels like to forget expectations and race to my true level of fitness. There was a lot of crowd support and I can see why this race is a classic with such a community feel to it. The run is crazy hard with endless hills on typical Muskoka roads so I tried to keep the run at a tempo effort and only give a little dig if I felt I needed more time. Despite keeping my effort in check the hills toasted my legs and I felt like I had knives in my quads over the last mile. No one was in sight but I was still running scared and didn't relax until I got over the last hill with 400m left. I was happy to finally win a race in Ontario, especially at such a cool race in the Multisport Canada series (goal #2 complete). Someone told me that it might have been a course record despite the swim likely being about 100m long.

So next up is a bit of a recovery week before elite provincials. I'm feeling good with my fitness, and even though I'll get my ass kicked in the swim draft legal racing is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to improving on last year's result. I'll try to find and post pictures soon.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

CCC O-Cup + Looking Ahead

Last weekend was my first race since Age Group provincials three weeks earlier...the Ciociaro Club O-Cup crit. I had been riding my TT bike exclusively for about two months prior to this race learning how to time trial so I wasn't sure how a crit was going to go. A lot of elite triathletes really struggle with draft legal racing because crit style racing is so different from time trialling - requiring a ton of high powered accellerations that can zap your legs pretty quickly. But with draft-legal provincials coming up in two weeks I needed a little tune-up race on the road bike.

I had to race in Cat4 again (ie. the lowest racing category) because I'm too cheap to pay the ridiculous $150 Ontario Cycling membership fee for one or two "workouts" a year. I would have thought that since I survived Springbank this one would be a walk in the park. But no one was willing to do any work and it made for a really sketchy race. The only time the pace picked up to anything respectable was when someone attacked. Besides that it was just an embarrassing display of handling skills and bickering in the group.

There were also a couple bad crashes, one of which I had to utilize all of my nijna training to avoid getting caught out when the two riders right in front of my went down and took out another 5-10 guys behind. Overall I really wasn't impressed with the experience, and afterwards I really appreciated the positive atmosphere around triathlon events. Anyway...I made my way up to the front for the last three laps, but everyone was so sketchy I was not prepared to risk a sprint finish in that pack with tri season being my priority. So I went for a hero move on the last lap and according to my powertap I averaged 655W over the final 1.3km. I was the only rider all day to make a gap on the group but with 200m left I saw the group coming back. I held them off until 100m to go when the sprinters were winding up and I sat up. I'm not fit enough yet to ride off the front of a large group at 50+km/h. But I'm getting close.

Looking forward, I will have taken over a month between triathlons, but the break has served well as a mental recharge and a solid block of training. Next up is Multisport Canada's Bala Falls Tri, one of my favourite events last year (which was also my first tri after a month's break last season). It's a beautiful venue and the course should suit me quite well given my training recently.

The weekend after Bala I'm back on the road to Ottawa for elite draft-legal provincials which also serves as a junior national series race...good news for me as I'll have more people to swim with! Depending on how that goes I will decide whether a late season ITU race is in the cards. If not I'll hit some competitive non-draft races - Windsor triathlon, Montreal Esprit, and possibly another crack at a half. I'm riding well so I might as well take advantage of that rather than force a ton of swim training and lose my advantage in a draft legal race.

I had the same feeling last year that the first half of my season seems like a wash with some mediocre results, some DNF's and all the big races still on the way. But I've been able to build on all my races so far and I'm ready to really hit the second half hard. Simply forgetting about the end results and focusing on pushing my limits is already starting to pay off.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Updates and some philosphical ramblings

Alright so I've been avoiding this one for a while now. I've been struggling with what to say but I feel somewhat accountable to those who read this, as my friends and supporters.

Last time I updated I was tapering for the Welland half and was expecting things to go smoothly and get revenge on the distance after last year in STX. It didn't exactly go as planned. Time to think back two weeks and see if I can pull out any lessons from the race.

It was going to be a fun weekend in Welland with Amanda (aka Leamington road trip buddy) doing the Saturday tri and then me doing the half the next day. Amanda had another awesome race and I want to share her coach's race report (Gabbi Whitlock of Balance Point Training)...I spectated and cheered with her while her athletes were racing and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing her recap:

It was a fun Saturday morning for me as I coach. It was a real pleasure to watch these ladies burn up the course. Welland is a timetrial swim start therefore you never know what place you are in. I heard someone call it a "truth" race as you are truly racing against yourself and the clock. Athletes were lined up in order of their bib numbers. Bib numbers were assigned based on when you signed up. Both Amanda and Ileana signed later so they had numbers near the back of the back - 230 and 242. Athletes started 5 sec apart. It was a rectangular swim course in the canal. Many women were out of the water before Amanda and Ileana even started the race.

Both ladies had strong swims. I can tell when my athletes are swimming towards the finish as I can recognize your swimming strokes. With this swim, the swimmers swam with the buoys to their right. I saw Amanda come around the top corner and heading towards the swim finish. I was standing at the top of a short hill that the athletes ran up after getting out of the water. It was weird because there was a short spot where I lost the view just before they got out of the water. There was a a volunteer helping people out of the water and people lined up on the side of entry. Some how between seeing Amanda swimming towards the swim finish and her getting out of the water, I lost track of her. I was thinking she should be out any moment. At the same time I saw Karen from the YMCA swim and MSZ getting out of the water and started to cheer for her. Then I was like ..where did Amanda go? There was a 450m run from the water to transition area. Amanda, Ileana and I had discussed taking off their wetsuits near the canal as the water would be all out of the suit by the time she got to transition and it would be harder to get off and also it would be hot to run in a wetsuit for 450m. So when I was wondering why Amanda wasn't out of the water yet, I looked over and there she was in the midst of getting her wetsuit off. I cheered hoping she would here me as I felt horrible to have missed her. (It turns out she must have been very close to Karen hidden by her). I am trying at races to learn how to take race photos in action. I got a funny one of Amanda with her leg in the air yanking off her wetsuit (photos to be shown later as they are not on this computer). I learned from my lesson and kept my eye on Ileana and got to see her finish her swim.

I was not able to see the transitions since it was 450m away from water. But I hear both had great transitions. During the warmup, we practiced both mount and dismount on the race day marked spots. This was especially important as the space was quiet small and you had to run around a tight corner up a curb for the bike out and bike in. This is where I waited for them to come back from the bike. I was watching the numbers of the people coming back. I had pre calculated when I thought Amanda and Ileana would be back based on when they went out. There was a turn about 15m before the mount/dismount line so you couldn't see the riders coming until just before the finish. Watching the numbers I was not seeing people anywhere near 200s and all of a sudden about three minutes before I was expecting her, I see the pink Multisport Zone suit coming towards me. Remember that people went out based on their Bib # assignment. Amanda came in with people mostly under 120. This means throughout the swim and bike she passed about 100 people! When I saw her coming, my stomach started making these nervous/excited butterflies. I was really happy for her. She had a fast run transition and off to the run. I stayed in position by the mount dismount and very close behind Amanda came another pink multisport suit Ileana. Both ladies had kicked butt on the bike course. Ileana came in also about three minutes ahead of my bike prediction and passing a very high number of people. It was such a pleasure to see how strong they both are on the bike. The butterflies continued.

I headed over to the finish line. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn't go away. I was jumping around unable to sit still thinking about how the ladies were putting themselves into situations of pain and getting to know this special friend. Making friends with the pain during the run makes for a great race. I knew they would be hurting but I was wishing them strength to push past it. When I saw Amanda approaching the finish, she had a great look of working hard and really pushing it on her face. I looked at Ryan and said she is in pain but a good pain! Ileana also looked really strong coming into the finish. She always has these great photo finishes and smiles. The race day was over for Balance Point and I was very super excited for both Amanda and Ileana!

It was a great day overall as both ladies stuck to their race goals and had impressive races. The test against themselves was won!

If you're still reading I'll tell you about my experience now...and what I've been avoiding talking about. I got a couple good activation workouts in on the Saturday and felt really tuned in for my latest go at long course. But looking back I was not in the right head-space for the race. I'm usually not too nervous before big races...especially if I'm confident in my training. But I got a terrible sleep the night before thinking about the swim. I couldn't eat anything on race morning and was gagging trying to force down half a Clif Bar and some coffee. I wouldn't admit it at the time but I was a nervous wreck over one simple thing...the time beside my name at the end of the day.

For those who are not familiar with Welland it's an extremely fast course. Canal swim, flat bike, flat and shaded run. You are supposed to go fast on a course like that. I was ranked #2 in the pro race behind last year's race winner Wolfgang Guembel. And I had a coveted "Recharge with Milk" pro interview if there already wasn't enough hype. Despite all the confidence I had gained from a solid block of training the only thought going through my mind was "what if." What if I have a crappy swim, what if I cut my foot on the rocks at the swim exit, what if I didn't ride 2:20, what if I fall apart again at 10k into the run.

Just as I got to the race site, strolling in quietly so I wouldn't be seen, my one thought was immediately replaced by another..."I am so F***ING stupid." I left my wetsuit and my nutrition in the hotel. With all the equipment required to do a triathlon and all the stuff you have to remember for a pre-race routine, the only thing I've ever been dumb enough to forget before have been pins for my race belt.

I think at that point I just shut down mentally. It didn't cross my mind that I could race without them, or that I could just give it hell and see what happens despite the circumstances. I was too concerned what my swim split would be in the pro wave. I was so clouded by the thought of what other people would think of me that I sabotaged my own race.

So I feebly attempted to haul ass back to the hotel 25km away in Niagara Falls. I have to say Amanda was the best support crew I could ever have, but I was too stubborn to listen to her that everything would be ok. At the time I simply couldn't fathom getting a 4 hour race underway in the mindset I was in.

We got back to the race site 30mins before the start and I didn't want to get out of the car. I tried running a little and my brain told my body that I felt too sick and too sore to start. So I shamefully drove back to the hotel and went back to bed. My biggest fear in it all was telling James that I f*cked it up so bad. But he told me exactly what I needed to hear, and it's taken this long for it to sink in enough to explain all this.

I don't do triathlons to meet my or others' expectations, and I don't do them because I'm good at it. Triathlons are fun. You get to do three sports in a row...any one of which most "normal" people consider crazy. You get to push yourself to the limits of human will, but you also get to splash around in a lake and call it training. Having such a royal f*** up of a "race" has become a blessing in disguise because it has allowed me to get back to the basics: back to why I got into such a cool sport.

I've had more than a few people (well-respected coaches, high end athletes, sports physicians) tell me I should just be a roadie. "Your back can't handle triathlon training...you're a better cyclist than you are a triathlete...you have better power numbers than a Cat 1/2 sprinter...". Beyond the true sense of community and FUN at a triathlon event - especially compared to the bickering and frustration of cycling - I don't do anything because I'm good at it. I do triathlon because I want to push myself and I find enjoyment in self-improvement. So it's back to training and onto the next race. No more mind games.


I was going to do an update on goings-on lately with training, some low key races and my plans for the rest of the season, but I'm pretty confident no one is reading this far down the page. So I'll save that for another time...

Monday, June 20, 2011

Leamington

So as I'm sure you're all aware of by now, about two months ago I had the bright idea to plan another half to get my season rolling. Preparation is just about done and the Welland Half is now 6 days away. Whatever happens in the race - because as I've learned, you never know what's gonna go down in long course - I'm really happy with how my training has gone in my prep for it.

Since I couldn't race last weekend I had to find one more tune up before the big one. So I headed down to the Leamington Triathlon with *cough* (pretty yoga buddy) and her coach for Age Group Sprint Provincials. Southwestern Ontario has a ton of small independent races that seem to have a cult-like following, and with it being a AG Worlds Qualifier it was going to attract some fast athletes.

So we crashed at LPC secondary headquarters just outside Windsor and had a short 30min commute to the race site the next morning. It's an interesting course with the swim in a marina with a surprising amount of chop and current and even more seaweed...then a flat but windy ride and a fun two lap 5k run course.

I tried starting on the outside since it was a slightly more direct line to the buoy...and found myself wondering why virtually nobody else was thinking the same way at a championship race. But the swim turned out to be surprisingly challenging with a lot more chop than this photo does justice, and I was fighting the current pushing me further to the outside.



I was in pretty bad position coming around the first turn and was forced to play catch up through the last 500m. I can really feel my increased swim fitness in open water and made up a lot of ground through the last 400 getting stronger as I went. Which made me even more frustrated with my tactical mistake that cost me missing the leaders' feet.

I got out of the water in a little chase pack (with the leader over a minute up on everyone) of some UWO tri club buddies. It made for a bit of chirping in T1. One guy in particular, Alex Vanderlinden has made some incredible strides this year and I've watched him quickly become one of the guys to beat in the local racing scene, and an incredibly fast runner.

So I got on the bike with Alex just ahead of me and some fast riders behind. I really focused on getting my heart rate in check and establishing a strong rhythm quickly, something I really struggled with in my last race and will be critical in my half this weekend. The wind was blowing on the way out and my newest toy (Garmin Edge 500) had my average speed at 34.0 at the turnaround. But the way back was fun with a good tailwind, and thanks to Multisport Zone I had the chance to roll Zipp 808/1080s which helped too :)

I got off the bike with my Rev3 buddy Thierry who is riding like a man possessed these days, with Alex (who was in 2nd place) about 5 seconds up on me out of T2 and the leader Josh Seifarth about 2 minutes up the road. I ended up with the 3rd best bike split behind Josh and Thierry and I headed out of T2 in 3rd. I knew it would be a monster task to make up any places with Josh well up the road and Alex in 16-mid 5k shape off the bike. But I was interested to see what my 5k speed is like with all my training geared towards a consistent half marathon pace.

The two lap run course was great. Lots of support from spectators and athletes, I got to see my position with 3 turn arounds, and I even got to cheer on my road trip pal as she was heading out on her first lap while I was suffering through the final mile.



I'm definitely lacking the sustained top-end speed I want for short course racing...I'd like to be 300-320W avg on the bike for such a short race and running 3:2x's on the run. But despite my completely different focus in training I felt fit and had a pretty consistent race (decent position out of the water, 3rd bike split, 2nd run split) for 3rd place behind Josh who was just too far in front, and Alex who had another monster race and top run time on a course that was 400m long.

There was a great LPC contingent at the race, and everyone raced well and fun times were had. My road trip pal had another awesome result for 3rd overall woman again, 1st in her AG and won a spot to Worlds. 3rd place buddies!

I felt like I should have gotten back on the bike for a few hours after such a short race, but as of my race finish I'm officially on my taper. Leamington was the perfect final tune up and gave me a bit more confidence in my fitness. I'm much better prepared for this half than my feeble attempt at STX last year and I'm looking forward to showing some mental toughness out there. After Welland I'm looking forward to getting fast again :)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

More Training

Greetings peeps.

I usually try to write something more substantial than just training updates but training has me brain dead of late...so that's all I got.

The big event on the horizon right now is the Welland Half Iron June 26. And once again I have to thank John from Multisport Canada for the big props in his June newsletter with Welland coming fast.

Training has been going really well for my latest attempt at long course racing. I've been as consistently strong over the past 6-8 weeks as I ever have been and my fear of the distance, fear of my results, fear of failure etc. is slowly being replaced by quiet confidence in my fitness and excitement to see how all my hard work translates on the road.

After my weekend in Connecticut for Rev3 (and 5 hours of training the next day) I put in another solid week before planning to hit my final tune-up race in Woodstock. Unfortunately I pushed my luck a bit in training and woke up on race morning on the verge of sickness. Rather than risk digging a hole two weeks out from a goal event I pulled the plug and spent the morning cheering on that pretty girl from yoga to a breakthrough result.

Another week of big miles is almost done including a 5 hour swim/bike/run simulation and the longest bike and run of my life, along with some dreaded 400 reps in the pool. I'm now in the perpetual zombie state that comes with 20 hour training weeks and burning more calories than I can possibly consume in a day. But just a few more days and I'll get some recovery before Welland.

This weekend I'm heading to Age Group sprint provincials for a short tune-up on a flat and fast course. It sounds like there will be some fast dudes, some friends trying to qualify for AG Worlds in Auckland next year, and plenty of fan support so it should be a fun weekend.

After Welland I'll have a mini break before getting re-acquainted with Black Beauty and gearing up for Elite Provincials, one of my favourite events from last year. Based on how the race goes I'll have a better idea of where I want to take the second half of my season - another half, an Olympic non-drafting event or possibly a Continental Cup. Or all of the above?

One last thought on Rev3...here is Thierry's far more in depth and thoughtful race report on his half. Great read, lots of photos and more than enough detail on our little adventure.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Rev3 Crazy

After 268 days I finally have another triathlon race report! The last one was the Montreal Esprit...I had a breakthrough race at the Olympic distance with a sub-hour ride and 2:03 time. I decided to end last season with that - a little earlier than expected - because I knew that was my best race of the year and that's how I wanted to end the season.

I was looking forward to starting this season where I left off last year with a healthy winter of training, numerous PB's in the pool and CP tests on the bike, then a two week training camp with lots of quality miles. But then my first race (a USAT Elite series event) was postponed six weeks before the race date...and while the race staff were all too happy to promote the presence of a Canadian pro at the event, they conveniently ignored me when I explained the new race date wouldn't work for me and I was out a few hundred bucks in travel expenses.

Then I was going to head down to Trinidad&Tobago at the end of May for a small event with a ridiculous amount of prize money. But two weeks before the race they quietly announced that the prize purse had been cut to less than half of what it was. All of this left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth with the amount of work I had put in to get my season going, then have two of my key events for the year scratched at the last minute.

When the opportunity came up to head to Connecticut for Rev3 Quassy I jumped at the chance and finally committed to my first tri of the year...to the Olympic race, while the feature event with the half ironman the next day. So no prize money and not quite the stellar pro field of the half, but a very competitive race on a hard course, and a world class event (yes, Rev3 puts WTC to shame).

I hit the road with LPC teammate Thierry, a strong age group athlete racing the half the day after my race. I stole some of his photos (hope you don't mind!) to document our journey. This was my side of the hotel room...



I had no idea what to expect from this race. I knew the courses were extremely hilly, and while bike/run training has been going well I had been a little inconsistent in the pool and I really didn't want to start the season off with another disappointing swim split. But my race was overshadowed by the awesomeness of the professional transition with my own spot beside many of the biggest names in the sport.



There were only a few pros in the Olympic race but it was still pretty cool to get the special attention for a day. Unfortunately that also meant there was no pro wave, and unlike in my Multisport Canada races they didn't group the pros in the first wave. So I went off with my age group in the second wave. We went off 3 minutes behind the first age group wave, but as you can see some of us bridged the gap within 100m. Not to complain...I know fast age groupers have to deal with this at every race. I'm just commiserating that it's a pain in the ass to swim through hundreds of people doing whip kick and double-arm backstroke, or quite literally trying to grab on to a faster swimmer as they go by.



I was weaving through swimmers the entire 1500, trying to maintain something that resembled a swim stroke. But when I made the last turn I saw that there were only a few swimmers in my wave who were ahead of me (or at least a lot less than I'm used to), and even less of those who had started 3 minutes ahead, I had a feeling that I was going pretty well. When I hit the beach I was feeling more fresh than I ever have exiting a swim and posted an open water PB at 22:04.



And that's where the fast splits ended for me. I was ready to throw it down on the bike knowing I'm riding well right now. But it turned out to be one of those days where nothing was going to work. Prior to the race my Powertap computer crapped out on me, so Thierry being the engineer frantically got his Garmin 500 on my bike and had me ready to go. But despite our best efforts I couldn't get any power readings during the race...not a huge deal but I had been planning to stick to power targets on the crazy hilly course. Not to mention I dropped my chain twice.

I wasn't about to blame a bad ride on my equipment...my legs simply did not want to work, and that course kicked my ass. There were no flats on the course at all - you were either going 12km/h up a hill, or 70-80km/h down. No in between. My bike training has been focused on pure time trialling (for a flat 90k) and I really struggled to get into a rhythm on this course. I was glad to get off my bike after quite possibly the longest 41km I've ever done.



The first two miles of the run were entirely downhill, and while I passed everyone who had gone by me on the bike I knew the worst was yet to come.



Theirry got some awesome shots of me doing my best Paula Findlay "show no emotion while running" impression. And don't start criticizing this heel strike...I was running a downhill 5-min mile.



The first major climb back up was at 5k and was about a mile long between 5-10% grade. My 5k split was under 16 minutes but that meant nothing considering how much climbing I had back to the finish. After that climb I was still on 6 minute-mile pace which I felt was a decent goal for the first race of the year. After that there were a few downhills so steep that I had to slow down to almost a walk just so my legs wouldn't buckle. Then the final climb was another mile again up to about 10% grade and by there it was clear that running sub-40 on this course was a feat. Here's another awesome shot Thierry got of me where my stride were about a foot long trying to survive the last uphill...apparently he was yelling at me but I was pretty out of it at this point.



I stopped the clock with a ridiculous 2:19 time and 40 minute 10k. If someone had told me that I would start my 2011 season off with a 2:19 I probably would have retired. But I'll take that on this course. Having lost some time on the bike to the leaders I didn't place as well as I'm used to but I'm happy with my swim and run, and I'm confident I'll get the bike figured out for my next race.



The Olympic distance is finally starting to feel normal, and while I pushed it hard I still managed to feel pretty good throughout. I can tell my fitness is there and I'm happy to start my year off with one of my most consistent races.

The next day I was lucky enough to catch all the action of one of the most competitive long course fields you'll see this year. It would have been fun to be a part of such a big event but I'll take things one step at a time. This was by the best run event I've done and I'm looking forward to building the back half of my season around one of Rev3's feature events.

I'll try to post some photos from the pro race soon. But I also have to mention that Thierry had one of the best races of his life, with an awesome 4:44 on the crazy course and a top-10 in the super competitive 35-39 age group. Great racing all around, back to training.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Goings On

I'm becoming a triathlete again this week. Road cycling is fun, and I'm oddly good at it despite being a triathlete. But the chances of crashing Black Beauty are far too great for my liking. Running isn't bad either...I seem to place well at races despite always running significantly faster in training than any time I've ever put down in a race. So I'll stick with triathlon.

I finally put down a week of training that I'm satisfied with and I'm starting to feel ready for the tri season. I'm kicking the year off this weekend at Rev3 Quassy (Connecticut). I'm racing the Olympic and although the "feature race" is the half the next day, I was pleasantly surprised to find my name and picture beside some real athletes on the pro start list. I'll take all the fame and glory I can get.

Speaking of which, I have to thank John at MultiSport Canada for the props in regards to the Welland Half in 4 weeks. Damn, it's only four weeks away. There's nothing like false confidence from others to motivate you to train harder! It seems to happen every year that I impulsively decide to race a long course event and I become obsessively motivated by it in every workout. Welland is my first goal race this year and I'm really happy with my progress in training towards it. I am much stronger than I was for my attempt at conquering St. Croix 70.3 last year, but I also know that something is not going to go as planned and being prepared for the inevitable is a critical part of long course training.

You may recall that last year I swore off half ironmans for the forseeable future. But it's what I'm drawn to in training and racing and I got tired of fighting it. It may be in part that I train alone so I'm drawn to the events that are a test of pure selfish will. But as I develop as an athlete it's becoming more and more apparent that I'm a bike/runner. And based on some of the times RTC athletes Ian and Zander are throwing down right now it's just as well that I'm figuring out now that I'm better suited to the races that you merely have to survive, as opposed to actually going fast.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

A.C.M.F.R.P.

It's sure been a while since I've posted everyone's second favourite segment here at RPHQ (behind Power Hour of course - stay tuned for more interviews soon). Either I haven't been training hard or excessive napping is just becoming an accepted part of everyday life for me.

But today I'd like all my fellow triathletes to focus on recovery...so here is some Awesome Canadian Music For Recovery Purposes:



You're welcome.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Busy Busy

It seems that my updates as of late have mirrored my training. Most triathlete-bloggers stop writing when they're in a heavy training block. For me it's the opposite...writing (blogs, music, texting a pretty girl) is a mental break from the daily grind.

I'm still struggling a bit with consistency and motivation to get the season underway but I'm finally making progress. I've taken a step back in the pool again with my gimp back giving me grief. It happens, I have to deal with it, no sense in stressing or feeling guilty about missed workouts.

In the last few weeks I've gotten 3 early season races in with decent results, and some of my bread & butter "find the trail with the steepest hill and run up and down until I fall over" workouts. Training programs, to-the-second intervals, track workouts etc. are all pieces in the puzzle but I love the simplicity and "primal" nature of my trail runs. They bring me back to why I started triathlon...because they're really f***ing hard.

Anyway that's all the philosphical stuff I've got for tonight. I was re-introduced to the real world this past week with training taking a back seat to having a real job. I must admit...I don't like it. I've done my share of 50+ hour work weeks and fitting in training wherever possible, but I generally prefer napping to work.

So I was in St. John's NL for business pretending to be a big boy for a week but I stumbled upon one of the coolest and hardest runs of my life.



Signal Hill (with a million little red dots to show you the trail):
0-481 feet in less than 2km, 321 stairs, winds over 100km/h...and sheer drops down to the ocean. Made for some pretty interesting runs.

Next up...possibly a road race or another 5k this weekend before getting the tri season rolling. First tri will be Rev3 Quassy Olympic June 4th.