Happy New Year

Greetings fellow triathlon gossip seekers,

Well it's a new year and we all know what that means...ridiculously crowded pools and no lockers to be found for the next two weeks. But don't worry, the resolution crowds will die off soon enough and it will be back to just us resilient triathletes!

I haven't been doing much updating lately, and it's a combination of trying to establish a new routine (having taken charge of my programming and race planning) and simply sticking to it day to day. It has never been part of my training philosophy to come up with arbitrary "epic" workouts or weekends then feel the need to tell everyone about it. So as boring as it may sound...it has been business as usual for me and I'm really happy with my CONSISTENT progress.

The longer I am in the sport and the more I try to show my face in the tri community rather than train in hiding all the time, the more distractions there are all around. People wanting to know what my weekly training is like, wanting to tell me that they're training more or harder. Personally I'm flattered when I hear that young athletes are comparing themselves to me in some way, and I'm always more than happy to help in any way I can...whether it be chatting with someone over facebook or leading by example at a workout. I have humble roots in the sport, having raced as an age grouper for three seasons before my hard work allowed me to gain elite status.

But there seems to be a growing trend of young athletes around me obsessed with the notion of "going pro". I'm all for people setting high goals and working hard to attain them, every day I feed off the doubters who tell me my goals in the sport and too lofty for someone so naturally untalented. But a lot of people tend to forget that it means NOTHING that Triathlon Ontario accepts your application to put "pro" on your calf at a race. You don't become a world champion overnight and you can't overlook the work it takes to get there: not for a single workout.

If someone were to ask me what it means to be a professional triathlete, I would tell them that my training is the antithesis of something boastful or glorious, rather it's dirty, painful and all-consuming. And for those rare instances that I get the chance to assert my fitness in a race, I will have spent 10 times longer driving to a venue every weekend of the summer than I actually spend racing it, for the slight chance to win enough prize money at one in ten races to cover my hotel or gas expenses. But I love it, the daily grind, the hard work that leads to improvement, and the rare but so-worth-it payoff. And I don't need my pro card to have that.

So all I ask of my compatriots is this. Focus on the training, the progression, and kicking your own ass in every workout and race. Forget the titles and the non-existent money, fame and glory. Just have fun, and quietly enjoy getting faster. And I will be more than happy to be beaten by a physically and mentally stronger athlete.

Now I'll compeltely change the subject because I'm too lazy to make two different posts. Well my build for my first event starts in about 4 weeks so until then I'm putting emphasis on efficiency in the water and strength on the bike and run. I'm learning to get comfortable swimming 20k/week...something that terrified me even a year ago. I'm also redefining my personal definition of "easy" and "hard" on my bike, as I do every off-season. 2-3 hour trainer rides aren't such a hardship anymore, and I have never been more excited to be fit for race season.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to join Coach James for one of his LPC Training Days in Windsor. They are always a great time and a solid training day with a fun group. I'm relieved that I'm still accepted as an honorary LPC'er even though I have taken "coaching" into my own hands. Here are a few pics from the day!







I have also enjoyed some fun training in Hamilton with Amanda, and have been getting a chance to be pushed in the swim and ride on the only good hills in Southern Ontario. It has been a great winter so far and I'm ready for spring racing already!

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!

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!

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!