Gettin' Ugly Out There

2012, Let's do this!

2012-01-05T11:44:00.001-08:00

Big things are happening for 2012. I have formed a few new partnerships for the year. I am extremely proud to announce that I will be riding Orbea bikes and rocking Orca wetsuits and gear! Orbea and Orca are distributed throughout Canada by a local distribution company Podium Imports (http://www.podiumimports.ca). I am thrilled for the chance to work with an amazing company in Orca and Orbea, while at that same time, staying local and helping to make my friends at Podium more successful. A big thanks to everyone at Podium Imports (Brian, Olly, Jonny, Alex and Geoff) for helping get this setup.

I am also pleased to announce that I will be equipping these rides with Shimano and Pro products. Shimano has been the industry leader for as far back as I can remember and I can't wait to get on a DI2 electronic shifting bike. The ability to shift from the aerobars and the basebar is something that will make a huge difference in my race performance. I remember when I was in junior high and I dabbling in Mountain Biking we would always ooohh and ahhhh about the top end Shimano products. It didn't matter what else was on my bike, I had an XT derailleur and that was the ultimate symbol of cool!

What I am even more pumped for is the racing! I have listed a 2012 race schedule on the right that includes races up until the big show, the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I will be adding a few other local events and possibly some relays or even a Gran Fondo or two to the mix.

I won't say too much more as the plan is to write a weekly blog from here on out, and I want to save some material for next week. I will post some photos from the past holiday season.

Until next time, train hard and Get Ugly Out There!

Winter Training

2011-11-07T14:05:00.001-08:00

After taking October easy I am feeling extremely ready and motivated to build back up for 2012. The podium in Vegas has filled me with confidence going into 2012 that not only do I have the talent to compete at the highest level, but also that I have the support network here in Penticton to get me there. I remember reading a quote from Simon Whitfield that was something along the lines of champions are made in December. I am a firm believer in this idea and I thought I would share what my plans for the winter training season are.

Firstly my coach Kevin Cutjar and I met to discuss racing possibilities for 2012 and decide what is going to enable me to perform at my best in Las Vegas. Once the overall plan was in place, we took a long honest look at my strengths and weaknesses as an athlete and what I need to do to get better going forward. At this time I also took a long honest look at myself and what I could do to increase my commitment as an athlete. As an athlete I have a tendency to focus on the short term, how can I get faster for my next race or next year, it is awesome to have a coach who is able to step back from the emotions and keep my long term goals in mind. Kevin uses his program Endurance Planner (www.enduranceplanner.com) to plan my training for the month and all I have to do form there is execute.

This winter I have made a few key changes. Firstly I have cut back my work schedule to just working Saturdays at the Bike Barn. Working at the Bike Barn is something I really enjoy as it gives me the opportunity to connect with other cyclists and triathletes in Penticton. I have also started to coach spin classes through Impact Multisport (www.imcoaching.com). I really enjoy coaching the spin classes at it allows me the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience while getting a workout in at the same time. I find that when I am coaching I am trying hard to set a perfect example and thus am super attentive to my form, technique and effort level. I have also changed my swimming routine up a bit from previous years. Without having to drive to Summerland this fall/winter, I am able to have a bit more time to train. I have established a routine where I am swimming every morning by myself focusing on freestyle sets from Endurance Planner. Well not totally on own, as my girlfriend Sophia swims with me as she is training for her second Ironman. Even though we don’t do the workouts it’s great to have her there to keep me on a set schedule and to keep me motivated. If anyone is in Penticton and wants to join 7:30am (okay 7:30am ish) Monday-Friday at the Pool. This winter I am focusing on building up my run mileage as well as adding a strength component to my training so that I can continue to stay injury free. I have also begun to place a greater emphasis on my recovery from workouts by making sure that I am on a structured post workout schedule of eating, resting and stretching. I am also going to take a swim instruction course and am looking forward to getting involved with some swim coaching and conducting some lessons, either one on one or for small groups.

　As far as a race plans for next year, 70.3 World’s is the big race, but I am very excited about some of the other events that we have planned. My first 70.3, Just like the last two years will be the Oceanside 70.3 in San Diego. I am also excited to have another shot at breaking Tom Evan’s course Record at The Great White North Triathlon and the opportunity compete for an Ironman 70.3 win on home soil in Calgary. I am also hoping to include the Oliver Half Ironman as it is an awesome race in my backyard, but we’ll see if it fits in. I am also thinking of possibly racing an Ironman in the fall, but we'll see about that after Vegas.

My first race of 2012 will be Rev 3 Costa Rica Olympic Distance on March 18^th. Myself and Sophia are going down to Costa Rica to help host the Great White North Racecation. GWN Race Director Mike Brown has put together a spectacular package that I would highly recommend checking out. Details are here www.gwntriathlon.com/raceation. I am very excited about this opportunity as I have heard nothing but good things about Rev3 races and likewise have heard amazing things about Costa Rica. I am also very excited for the opportunity to meet and spend a week with a group of people who are passionate about triathlon. In addition to the race we have tentatively planned zip-lining, a safari tour and some surf lessons. It is awesome to have the Racecation as something to look forward to during the cold snow filled month, especially when you are getting out of bed to swim and it is still pitch black out.

PODIUM AT THE WORLD CHAMPS

2011-09-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was AMAZING! I think this photo says everything that needs to be said.

I'll definitely write a more detailed race report when I get a chance but I just I want to thank everyone who has helped me get to this point. In particular, I want to thank my coach Kevin Cujar of www.enduranceplanner.com and www.imcoaching.com He has believed in me since day one and has provided me with the knowledge and experience to succeed at the highest level.

Here are the links to a couple of articles on the race
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/845488-ironman-703-world-championships-2011-alexander-wins-symonds-shakes-up-worlds
http://www.xtri.com/features/detail/284-itemId.511712869.html

I am looking forward to continuing to work hard and prove that this was not the race of my life. It was just the race of my life until now. My new goal is to become the World Champion. I have 363 days to get faster. Let's do this.

Ski2Sea Team Race Report

2011-04-11T15:16:00.001-07:00

Big win out there for the The Bike Barn team at the Ski 2 Sea yesterday. It was our fourth year competing in the event and with the extinction of Total Restoration Cycling the door was wide open for a new champion. The team has come leaps and bounds since the DQ debacle back in 2007. This year the cuts were fierce. Former members were left with a bitter taste in their mouths after learning about the 2011 team roster. The dream team had been assembled and here is the exclusive story of how it all went down.

It was a late start, as the race was held up waiting for a single late skier. Report is that the skier finally showed up 10 minutes late. As the other teams anxious and frustratingly waited, the skier attempted to ski down to the start line when disaster struck. Apparently it looked something like this:

The race was further held up as the skier needed time to figure out he the hell he was and collect his equipment that had been yard saled across the slope. Glad it wasn't are guy.

Downhill Ski - Aart "The Captain" Van Kooy

The past three years Aart had done the Mountain Bike, but this year transferred his duties and took over the dirty job that nobody else wanted to do, the downhill ski. The ski would be nice and easy if not for the lung busting 800m uphill run that preceded it. "The Captain" also gets bonus points for attempting the leg after not having downhill skied since the 80's, a time when he may or may not have worn jeans while skiing and had a full head of hair. Aart skied well finishing in the top ten, limiting the time to our rivals and avoiding the big packs that followed after him. Rumour has it that an unnamed rival bike store tried to recruit him to do the mountain bike leg. We were able to catch a good picture of him with his black gear and over sized helmet, see below.

Nordic Ski - Jeff Rockin' Kerkovious

I didn't even have to make up that nickname, I stole it straight off his facebook page. Jeff more than lived up to the nickname with a Rockstar like effort that moved the team into third place. Jeff was both the new guy and at 18 the youngest member of the Bike Barn team. If he wasn't feeling the pressure before, he certainly was after Evan told him "you better lose not lose it for us". Jeff put it all out there collapsing. He also gave the best interview as he was the only one who made the cut on tonight's edition of the CHBC news. And yes that is Canadian Tire money in the picture below remember the nickname is Rockin' not classy. It just goes to show what Canadian Amateur athletes are willing to do these days to finance their dreams.

PAPARAZZI MOMENT. Doug "Hollywood" Copithorne from the classic film Ski School 2 was reportedly spotted at the Ski 2 Sea sporting Bike Barn clothing. It was not confirmed whether he was competing in the event or filming another sequel. More on this as it becomes available.

Geoff "Akon" Waterman was also seen at the hill. Geoff was a member of the Bike Barn Ski2Sea in 2009 but after declining his spot in 2010 he was passed on for 2011. Grudgingly Geoff found another team to ski for. Unfortunately he had to watch as all the other teams tag off until he was last one left standing. Rumor has it he was humming Akon's Mr. Lonely quietly to himself. Geoff is a jack of all trade and if any of our 2011 team members drop out or decide to do it solo next year (hmmmm, interesting thought) he will be the first call.

Mountain Bike - Evan "Business" Guthrie

Evan Meant business and business he delivered. Down four minutes at the start of the leg and up two by the end. Performance of the Day. How did that happen? Besides the obvious massive amount of force on the pedals, the answer lies in his meticulous preparation. He set a windtrainer up in transition to warm-up. He didn't care that most people assumed he was just trying to show off. He also built up a custom bike designed specifically for the race. Details of the bike cannot be revealed on this blog and will be passed only passed down to future team members with utmost of secrecy. Evan also used a massive amount of safety pins to fasten down his jersey. He looked a lot like this guy only marginally cooler.

Why was Evan so business-like? Because he figured "If we win Ski 2 Sea we'll have more success with the ladies". Not true here is a graph detailing how ski2sea impacts your ski2Sea placing affects your success with Girls. As you can see no impact.

I also showed him how your level of success in endurance sports affects your success with the ladies.

Many theory's exist on why this is, but spending hours on your bike and going to bed early are generally not good ways to meet girls.

Jonny "Titanic" Caron

Jonny was like tragic vessel today, in that he descended quickly but more so because of how he frozen he looked before his leg. It was freezing and snowy out and the prospect of descending at 85+km/h wasn't exactly uplifting. When left him at the start of the leg we managed to snap a picture, the photo is a little blurry so it is hard to recognize him.

He warmed up quickly and reintroduced himself to his good friend lactic acid for the first time this year. He then put a on a clinic for the Roadies on the other team, Triathlon 101 with the first topic being aerodynamics and its importance on a downhill time trial. When it was all said and done Jonny had the fastest split of day. Jonny rode a prototype Orbea TT frame with a geometry designed specifically for the Big White decent. It is referred to as the P51 but will be available at all respectable bike shops in the near future as the Orbea "JonnyO". The women's version will be appropriately named the Orbea "Oh Jonny".

Run - Myself (No Nickname given, *see article 91 of the Bro Code)

This was the first time in a ski2sea where I had not only gotten the hand off in contention for the race but also leading the race. I ran hard and the run was uneventful I held the lead throughout. I ended up losing some time to Aaron Heidt when it was all said and done. I'll blame it the short turn around from Oceanside. I'll also blame the mid race pitstop to one of the city of Kelowna's fine restroom facilities. Remember being a champion isn't about just winning the race, but winning the race with your dignity intact.

Canoe - Dave "Opportunity" Kitson and Brad "Don't tell my doctor" Lee were

Brad had a gutsy race competing in the event just 5 days after having surgery on his left knee. If you look closely at the photo below (far left in blue) you can see a grimace on his face and him running to help us get the boat across as fast as possible.

Dave skied for the team last year and despite his disappointment at being replaced, (like I said earlier the cuts were tough) he jumped at the opportunity to compete in the Canoe portion when word of an injury came in. Like Tom Brady in 2001 Dave would not let the opportunity go to waste. Before the race Brad and Dave said that in order to stay ahead of Fresh Air's strong paddlers and there Carbon fibre vessel they would need a four minute lead. The most nerve racking part of the day was waiting for The Fresh Air runner to come in and tag off their canoeist to see if we had build up at least a 4 minute buffer. It took just over five minutes before Aaron came through the tunnel and we knew that our guys would get 'er done. They came through with great pacing and a solid second half to secure the slim 1:19 margin of victory.

We concluded the day with a post race lunch at Earl's and when our server asked what we were up to today Evan responded in his best Charlie Sheen Impression "Winning". Perfect.

Okanagan College Half Marathon

2011-03-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran the Okanagan College Half Marathon in Kelowna. Formerly the Campus to Campus Half Marathon, the race is one of the few races in the Okanagan that offers prize money. I feel it is important to get out and support the races that offer prize money and support the development of high level running. It was definitely not a typical late March Okanagan day as there was a mixture of snow and freezing rain when I arrived at the race start.

With the Oceanside coming up next week I had to make sure I didn't empty the tank. My plan was to sit and kick similar to the Lakeside 5k. There was a decent group together for the early parts of the race, with fellow triathlete Dallas Cain and former 1500m Olympian Graham Hood setting the pace. Graham has been retired from running for a while but has signed up for Ironman Canada this year. Similar to myself he was out there for fun and around 6k into the race he said to me "You better not leave things too late. I still have some kick in these legs". At that point I thought I had better pick up the pace. I opened up a gap over the next 5k and at the top of the top of the hill (Same Knox Mountain route from the Apple Triathlon except done in reverse) I could see that the gap wasn't going to close. I rolled along to the finish, got the win and now feel great heading into my taper for next weekend. Super pumped to hit it hard in San Diego.

Graham was second and Dallas had a solid race to finish third. Keddi-Anne Sherbino kept her winning streak intact and was right on our heels to win the women's race in an impressive 1:21. However the winning streak will come to an end at the Ski 2 Sea in a couple weeks time. Despite her Fresh Air Experience trash talk, the 2011 Bike Barn Team will not be denied. Game on!

The race was super well organized with volunteers at every intersections even the ones where you went straight through. The aid stations had lots of people and supplies and were ready when I rolled through. I would definitely recommend this race for anyone looking for a half in March. As long as it doesn't interfere with a key triathlon I will be back next year to defend my title.

One thing I could have used out there was a doctor..... Cause my mullet was sick. If there had been an award for worst haircut I definitely would have won it. Aerodynamic in the front and a part out the back. After I cross the finish line a cute girl told me to turn around so she could get a picture of in her words "my better side", meaning the mullet. Not sure that was a compliment but I'll take it as one anyways. I'll probably shave it for Oceanside but maybe I'll keep it and shave in some racing stripes instead. We'll see.

Here are a couple news articles from the race.

CHBC video clip

http://www.castanet.net/news/Sports/61065/Rainy-race-for-half-marathon-runners

http://www.vernoncentral.ca/news/local-news/934-vernon-runner-places-2nd-in-half-marathon.html

Day 1 of the Video Blog

2011-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Video Blog Deleted.

Even my mom said she doesn't care.

Lakeside 5k

2011-03-07T13:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the Lakeside 5k here in Penticton. It's pretty awesome to race in your hometown especially on a course where the finish is very similar to Ironman Canada. Last year I had planned to run this race easy and ended up going out harder than I thought for the first 4k and then keeping it in control for the last k. I ended up running a 15:15 or something and definitely felt it for the next couple of days. Coaches orders were to win the race but keep it controlled. When the gun goes off I automatically go into hammer mode so I decided that I would avoid this by not taking the lead until the final turn up lakeshore which is about 1200m from the finish. I ran with fellow local Dave Matheson until the turn and ran strong from there. It was a less than spectacular time for me but I got the win and had a great experience. I love racing local because it gives you the opportunity to see the success of your friends and training partners first hand. IMC 2012..... seems likely. Dave had a solid race holding on to second silencing the early morning pool pundits who claimed that he was horribly out of shape. Keddi-Anne Sherbino who also won in Vernon, took the women's race. New to running she is super talented and definitely one to watch in the next few years. Super cute as well. But, BY FAR the performance of the day goes to the man, who name I don't even know, who finished third with a Roger Banister-esque collapse at the finish line. He definitely got ugly out there. REAL UGLY and luckily Dirk was there to capture it with a timeless photo.

Although I was planning on keeping it controlled I kept my pre-race routine the same as if I was going out to smash it. I packed my stuff the night before, went to bed early, got up early, ate the same things I usually eat and did my usual warm-up. Two reasons for this. Firstly, I think that any race is a good chance to go through your routine and iron out any kinks that might be there. Secondly, something I learned a long time ago at the 2008 Bare Bones Duathlon, never take anything for granted. I held a lot of confidence knowing that I had trained hard and training was going well but I learned at the Bare Bones Duathlon that all the training in the world doesn't mean squat if you don't bring you A game to the race. I came fully prepared to run a smokin' fast time if needed. I am looking forward to coming back to defend my title next year.

Starting Block 10k

2011-03-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have enjoy a lot of success over the past three seasons, so I decided to start things off with the on the same note and race the Starting Block 10k in Vernon. The race is a must do for me as the weather and road conditions in the Okanagan in the first week of February can be all over the map. It is a guarantee that you will be running long stretches of the race on slush and ice and if you're lucky Uler will throw down a blizzard like in 2009. This year unfortunately or fortunately the skies were clear and we had good footing on about half the roads.

My plan for the race was simple take it out hard and hang on. I wasn’t sure what kind of a kick Tom Michie had and I didn’t really feel like finding out. I was able to get the win in 32:22, a time that was almost exactly the same as last year. This was my first race running in the CompresSport Calf Sleeves and so far I am very impressed. The race went well and the post race soreness in my calves is significantly less than I usually get after my first few races of the season. I am very happy with where I am at right now as every workout I am getting stronger and stronger. I am also pretty stoked to compete again. The thrill of testing yourself in competition is awesome. It is something that video games can only mimic so much. My first big race of the year, the Oceanside 70.3, is in less than 7 weeks and hopefully I’ll be able to get a couple more running races in before then.

Dirk Handke was there to take some good photos from the race.

Vegas Detour

2010-12-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

I just barely missed my flight on the way home from Austin. I got the times mixed up and thought I flew out at 6:30 when instead it was 6. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the awesome people from SouthWest were able to give me a new travel itinerary. Instead of flying from Austin to Denver to Spokane, I was now going to fly Austin to Las Vegas to Spokane. I have never been to Vegas and I was excited to find out that I had a 4 hour layover in Vegas. So I did what any runner would do, I put my stuff in a locker at the airport and headed out for a run on the Vegas Strip. Somebody has to be the worst dressed guy in Vegas and today it was most definitely me. I had on Black compression socks (The only socks I had with me), running shorts (I was already wearing them under my khakis, cause you never know when a good run might breakout) and a tacky The Hangover souvenir T-Shirt I bought in the Vegas airport (Light blue with a printed on Baby attached to it just like in the movie). It was a beautiful day out and I more than enough time to run over to the strip, walk around and run back to catch my flight. Hanging out there got me pretty pumped for the possibility of racing two World Championships there. The ITU Long course world Champs and the 70.3 World Champs. I even found a great place to open water swim (see picture Below).

Looks good, though I have heard the Bellagio has some wicked currents.

Austin 70.3

2010-12-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Austin was another solid race and a great tune up for Clearwater. The trip itself was top notch as well. Austin is a great city and I was able to experience a few things this time around that I did not get to last year. Barton Springs was an interesting experience as it is a 200 yard section of a river that has been turned into a large swimming area. The Saltstick BBQ is a place that I would highly recommend, especially for a tourist like myself who was looking for a real Texan experience. It was the first BYOB restaurant I have been to. I also got a chance to ride on the famed Mopac TT loop. It was pretty mipressive to see the hype around the city when the Longhorns were playing a football game on Saturday. I felt a little out of place not wearing burnt orange. The couple I stayed with here in Austin, Jack and Kat were really great and I am thankful that they let me stay with them while I was down here. Hopefully they’ll be out racing the 70.3 next year. One thing I did not do was get out to Mellow Johnny’s and grab a coffee and buy a T-Shirt like Austin tourists are supposed to do. I did go to Austin Tri Cyclist, which apparently has a higher cool factor as it is less cliché. I would agree, it's a great place.
The race.

It was a deep water start which usually I am not that good at, but this time I got out decently. I could see a few guys going off the front, but could also see Richie Cunningham Bryan Rhodes right in front of me so I settled in. The rest of the swim was at a pretty relaxed pace and I exited the water 5th and in the lead pack. Good enough.

I was second in our pack coming out of transition and felt good. I worked solidly to chase down a couple of guys that were trying to pull away over the first 15k. After that I was able to ride my pace and stay in the middle of a strung out line of riders. There was about 8 guys in the line including most of the other good runners. Definitely with everyone marking each other and feeling confidant in there running there wasn’t a lot of incentive to push the pace. The pace slowed considerably in the last half. One of the guys that was driving the pace got upset thinking that the people behind him were drafting. He was throwing his arms up in the air and complaining to the motor bike. The motor bike was with the line of athletes the entire ride and everyone seemed to be riding fairly legit. There is huge pacing and mental effect by having guys in front of you but the drafting benefit at 10m is not that substantial (less than 10 watts). The rider really needed to give the other guys in the line more credit. There were some really good athletes riding with him. What he should have done is continued to drive the pace hard to try and get some of the strong runners in the group to either fall off the pace or blow up. Instead he just complained, took his mind off his race, let the guys behind catch up and kept the good runners fresh. At some point James Cunnama caught the group and started to move up with about 5 miles to go. There was one guy out front who ended up being 6 minutes ahead after the bike. Off the bikes and the chase was on to catch him.

My plan was to just run my pace and have confidence that that would put me in a good position. However when I got into T2 and heard the announcer saying “we got 9 guys coming into T2 with some really stronger runner, it is on!!!” I lost my cool, didn’t grab my gels and just hammered to try and catch up with the other guys. James and Richie were out front by about 100m and Alesandro was about 50m up the road. I killed it to catch up to Alesandro at about the 1k mark. He was push it hard to catch Richie and James who were pushing it hard to get away. All this added up to me going way too hard. I was cooked and fell off Alesandros pace. I got caught by fellow Canadian Brent Poulsen and settled in to the pace that I should have been running. At this point three guys ahead of me were about 200m up the road. After about 1k of running with Brent I started feeling good and not only did I start to hold the gap but also started to close it. I had worked my way to about a 100 meters from the three at the halfway point in the run. At this point the race got broken up. James was gone. I was holding steady behind Ritchie and gaining on Alesandro. I moved into fourth at about the 13k mark and felt pretty good. I had closed the lead to Ritchie to about 50 meters by the 15k mark when the wheels started to come off. I am pretty sure it either was the heat or a lack of fluids/calories on the run but I went from feeling pretty darn hot to cold and clammy and totally zapped of energy. With 5k to go I knew it was going to get ugly. With about 4 k to go alesandro repassed me and I made a futile attempt to match the pace. I focussed on just getting to the finish line and grabbing everything I could at the aid stations I passed. With about 800 to go I started swerving and felt like I was going to pass out. Things were getting blurry as I crested the last kicker at about 300 meters and my legs were stumbling as I rounded the last sharp corner before entering the finishing straight in the arena. Exhausted I cross the line fifth, thinking I never want to go through that again. It is amazing how short your memory can be, as 20 minutes later I was totally amped for Clearwater.

The Canadian men represented the Maple Leaf well putting 5 guys in the top 20 overall. Brent Poulsen was 6th, Trevor Wurtele was 9th, Anthony Toth 19th and Nathan Killam 20th.

BMO Okanagan Half Marathon

2010-12-01T20:31:00.001-08:00

I made sure to give myself ample time to recover from Muskoka and then got back into training. I got into the nice training rhythm where you just eat ,sleep, work and train. I put down a solid training block and finished it off by running the Half Marathon at the BMO Okanagan Marathon. The race has about 3500 people in it making it the biggest running event in the Okanagan. The plan going in was to run my goal half Ironman pace for the 70.3 in Austin the following weekend which meant 3:27 kilometres. The rain and wind really picked up as soon as the gun went off. A really big guy, I mean massive guy, took the lead. He had a shirt that said something like "Extreme Boot Camp Hardcore Fitness" and was rocking headphones. I am glad I was running against him and not getting in a scrap or an arm wrestle otherwise I would have had no chance. The pace was pretty hot but it was only a matter of time before he slowed and at about the 1k mark I took the lead and locked into my pace. I was amazed at the consistency of my kilometres. I felt like a bit of robot out there and got to the finish first at 1:12:51 feeling pretty good. Dave Matheson had a great race on a tough day to finish second. My brother also took part in the event and finished the 10k. There was no official time for him as his chip did not read. This means he has to sign up for another one in the near future. He did really well off almost no running training. After the race he asked me what the secret to not cramping was? I told him “Train”.

Muskoka 70.3

2010-12-01T20:26:00.001-08:00

Huntsville, where the Muskoka 70.3 is held, is an awesome place. It was my first time in cottage country and can definitely say I was impressed. The atmosphere made me feel like chilling out and going fishing as opposed to going out and smashing myself on the race course. But come race morning it was business time. I felt super fresh on the start line and was able to have my best swim at a 70.3 coming out of the water just 35 seconds back of the leaders and feeling great. After a super hilly transition we were on the bike. My plan was to keep things in control for the first 15k as I heard people like to smash that first part of the hilly Muskoka course. To my surprise the guys around me didn’t do this. The pace was solid and consistent and I tried my best to keep Raynard Tissink in front. This was probably a little ambitious of me as around 60k things start to get tough. We recieved reports that we were gaining on the guys ahead of us so I smashed myself for the next 10k to try and keep him in sight. At around 70k I was blown and decided to back off so that I would be able to put my left foot in front of my right foot for the run. In hindsight Raynard Tissink just finished 5th at Hawaii so trying to ride with him on such a tough course was definitely not a good idea. Throw in the fact that he didn’t run too well shows how hard we were going. I was caught in transition by Chris Legh and we set out on the run together. The Muskoka bike course is not stop hill after hill and the run course is much the same. I managed to hang on to Chris for the first 5k but I had expended way too much on the bike to run well. I was able to catch Sean Bechtel, eastern Canada’s best long distance triathlete, at around 15k to move into fifth. I was able to put a bit of time into him over the next couple of kilometres and then things got tough. I was zapped of energy and had to do everything in my power to make it to the finish. The Muskoka course has one brutal hill that you hit with about 2k to go. They could just as easily by pass the hill all together but they cruelly take you down a side street to hit it. I was just crawling up the hill and I must have shoulder checked 5 times in 150m to make sure Sean wasn't catching back up. I made it to the finish in fifth, top North American and the last money spot. I was stoked to have put my horrible August behind me and throw down another solid race. It was a super stacked field and definitely boosted my confidence.

August

2010-12-01T20:19:00.001-08:00

It’s been a while since I posted last so I think it is safe to say an update is far overdue. A lot has happened over the past two months, so as Wayne Campbell would say “Let me bring you up to Speed”. The Cagary 70.3 was a tough race for me. The swim did not go as planned and I came out with the chase group about 90 seconds down on the leaders. I was able to bike my way back into contention, but unfortunately flatted about 70k into the bike. I had already gone over the two main climbs and was feeling pretty good with a solid net downhill for the last 25k. I changed the flat and got back at it. I made a huge mistake in trying to make up the lost time in the remainder of the Bike and the first 5k of the run. Not a solid plan as it left me blown apart both mentally and physically. I walked jogged it in for a less than stellar finish.

I decided to change things up for my next race and chose to race the ITU short course nationals in Kelowna. I was determined to make up for my poor performance in Calgary and started hammering workouts a lot sooner than I usually do after a half ironman. This worked great for about a week and a half but then something had to give. I should have listened to my coach and rested more as I caught a wicked cold the Sunday before the race. Despite my best efforts I just could not get healthy. I woke up feeling like trash and when somewhere between pounding back the buckleys and having my head over a bowl of vick’s vapor rub I realized it probably wasn’t going to be a race. I was right, it was awful. However it was a great open water experience as where else can you get an open water swim with 60 good swimmers.

The week after was Ironman week in Penticton. Always an awesome time. There were so many good performances out there by training partners and friends. It was definitely inspiring to see Justin Birks throw down a huge PB, Anthony Toth go sub 8:50 and see Steve Kilshaw get the monkey off his back. I was also stoked to see the "bearded competition". I was unaware that this was a category but Shaw TV ran a great segement informing everyone that it was. I had to put quite a few more hours than usual at the Bike Barn. The store is just madness during Ironman time so the days leaved you bagged. This was probably a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to take back my training and recover the sickness. Once the IMC circus left town I got back into training with the motto of making each workout a deposit not a withdrawal leading into the Muskoka 70.3. Apparently it is better to be 10% undertrained than 1% over trained and I felt like I was going in feeling 20% percent undertrained.

Calgary 70.3

2010-08-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

John H Holt wrote; “If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks, and that means you're not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win.”

Today was an awful day out there for me execution wise. I think I have the fitness to win a 70.3 I just need the experience to make it happen. I was racing for the win and made some mistakes that resulted in an awful yet motivating race. I am glad that I was able to make a lot of mistakes in one race as it gives me the opportunity to learn from them quickly and come back better than ever.

Vancouver Half Ironman Race Report

2010-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

I can't say for sure if Vancouver was the best race of my life but I can definitely say that it was the biggest win of my career. This race was also very special to me as it coincided with a family tragedy that happened earlier in the week. Hopefully my race was able to bring a little happiness in a tough time for my extended family.
The race was held at Spanish Banks and rode around UBC, so it was a course I was very familiar with. I got some great advice from 2009 race winner Jordan Rapp as well as fellow Canadian Brent Poulsen.

My plan for the race was to 1. get a lead on the swim
2. Bike strong enough to stay with the lead group but not torch myself
3. Run the fastest split of the day

I knew going into the race that my swimming had been going really well. I wanted to take advantage of this and have a lead coming out of the water over the other strong runners in race. I had hoped to get on Ian Young's feet but he took off like a bullet and I missed that train. I was able to get on the feet of former Olympian swimmer and fellow UBC Alumni Mark Johnston who was there doing a relay. Mark wasn't out there to kill it and swam at an even pace and dead straight. When we made it to the beach I could see Ian just ahead running into transition. After a quick transition (fastest of the day, I have learned well from Kevin) I was right behind Ian going out onto the bike course.

I traded off leads with Ian as we crested the hill and rode along South West Marine. We hit the first turn around and it was now time to see how much damage the swim had done. I was thrilled to see that we had opened up a substantial gap to the next two guys (Steve Kilshaw and Chris Boudreaux). Part 1 had worked. I traded off leads with Ian for lap 2 and then took the lead for good at the start of third lap. I felt really good and rolled with it. I could see that I was putting time on everyone and knew that when I rolled into transition I would have some breathing room. The only thing that slowed me were the 12 no pass zones. Given that it was a four lap course and there was also a sprint distance race at the same time, things were understandably hectic . I wasn't sure the exact rules so I kept it as honest as possible and didn't pass anyone. I lost a fair amount of time in there probably (2 min) especially on the last lap where I was forced to ride behind a woman on a mountain bike for over a Kilometer. I was definitely very thankful to everyone that went over their threshold to rider faster in these no pass zone after they heard me yelling. It was definitely a cool feeling to be at the front of the race with a police escort and the Rogers sports net people buzzing around on motorbikes. I could get used to that.

Part 2 of my race strategy went better than expected as I had about 2 minutes on Ian and about 5 on Steve. I probably pushed a little too hard on the bike as my legs felt trashed for the first 6k of the run. Finally I settled in and started getting into a rhythm. I could see that Steve was gaining on me so I made sure I pushed things to keep the gap open. My body felt better and better as the race went along and I ended up with the fastest run split of the day (mission accomplished) and spitted the second 10k over a minute faster than the first. Definitely something to work on there, but gives me huge confidence in my ability to close out a race hard. I crossed the finish line in 3:50 and Couldn't have been more happier. Steve ended up finishing second and Trevor Wurtele had a great race finishing 3rd. Next year they won't have to list Trevor's race credentials as "Heathers Husband and also a pro himself". Mike Neill was fourth and is looking good to grab a Kona spot in Lake Placid on the 27th. I was really hoping that Heather Wurtele would be able to make it an Okanagan sweep. She came so close to taking the win finishing second by about a minute but lost to some pretty stiff competition. A big thanks to everyone that came out to watch. Hopefully I will have convinced some of the UBC XC alumni who were out watching to hop in a half Ironman sometime. Ben, Shane, T-knuckles? How about it?

On a side not it is really cool to see the guys that you were battling it out with on the local scene progress to the point where you are battling it out with them on a World Class level. Steve Kilshaw is the best example of that. We battled it out on the Peach and am sure we'll be battling it out for many years to come. I also think he's going to podium at IMC (you heard it here first). On that same train of thought..... Here's an interesting result before Trevor and I both started taking this triathlon thing seriously. http://www.winningtime.ca/results_ubc_031106/olymaleoall.txt

I guess now it's time for me to go off the grid for a couple of weeks and get ready for the next race the Calgary 70.3 on August 1st. Robbie Smith asked me while working at the Bike Barn "We'll that good but how do you go faster ?" The question caught me off guard but I thought about it and came up with an entire list of answers to that question. It really hit home that I may have won the race on Sunday but I am still a rookie in the sport. Kevin has a great program and today is the start of a hard 16 days and then its taper time. I am excited to get back on the Ironman 70.3 circuit and see how I stack up after a great few months of training since Galveston. I have a feeling I am going to surprise more than a few people out there.

(I have posted some race photos on Facebook, so If anyone reads this and wants to check them out feel free to add me.)

Oliver Half Iron

2010-06-09T21:57:00.001-07:00

The Oliver Half Iron is a great race that happens to be just a 35 min drive away. Well I'll keep it real for me it's a 40 minute drive. With the likes of Scott Curry, Kyle Marcotte, Mike Neill, and Paul Tichelaar on the start list I knew it was going to be a fast race.

Swim:

My plan for the swim was simple. Get on Tichelaar's feet and stay there. The combination of myself swimming well lately and my new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit kept me in there and feeling smooth. I wore the Blue Seventy Hydra-vision goggles for the first time in a race. These are the goggles with the curved lens. I could totally notice an improvement as not only was sighting easier but I was able to know exactly where the other swimmers were around me at all times. I ended up second out of the water a second behind Paul and felt great. Even if I completely blew up on the bike and run, the race would have been a success because for the first time this season I was able to execute on the swim. After a speedy transition I was first out on the road.

Bike:

I traded off the lead with Paul for the first 25 or so kilometers until Scott Curry came bike like a bullet. He was flying and ended up setting a bike course record by a massive amount. I'll be watching for him to rip it up at Ironman Coure D'alene in three weeks time. I tried to match Scott and Paul's pace but fell off after about 10k of struggling to hold on. Once on my own I settled back into my game plan. The rest of the bike was fairly uneventful but consistent. Loop courses are always tough as you have to navigate around people and traffic but I guess it gives you a good chance to show off your cool bike gear (see Reynolds Disc). I came into transition 4 minutes down and after another quick transition headed out on the run. I ended up having the fastest T1 and T2 times of the day despite having the worst setup spot so I am definitely taking that away as a positive. Maybe Steve King was right two years ago at the Peach Classic when he called me a "Transition Specialist".

Run: Ironically the run was the one part of the race I was most worried about. I had been struggling with some leg injuries since the Bare Bones Duathlon. The injuries forced me to take some time off and I only had a couple of solid run workouts before the race. However hearing Steve King announcing some of my previous performances as I ran by him about 500m in, completely restored my confidence. Thanks Steve. I struggled with finding a rhythm initially but found it half way through the first lap. I was getting splits that I was catching Scott but running fairly even with Paul. I caught up to Scott just after the turn around heading out onto the second lap and focused in on trying to catch up to Paul. I started hearing splits that I was gaining ground and kept pushing forward. I really found my stride on that last lap but unfortunately I ran out of real estate and finished second by about a minute. I wanted a sub four on that course and that's what I got so it's hard not to be happy. At the same time I wanted to win. My consolation prize was that I was able to get the run course record.

So Round 1 goes to Paul but I am sure we'll battle it out many more times before our careers are over. It's probably better that he took this one, it has put the fire in my gut to get faster. I was definitely impressed by him, not only is he fast (He's my early pick for Ironman Canada Champ) but a super nice guy as well. A Class act as are Scott, Mike Neill and Kyle Marcotte for that matter. Definitely an honor to be out there mixing it up with these guys and I look forward to being on the side lines cheering most of them on at IMC.

Nutrition for the Race: Breakfast: 1 large bowl of Oatmeal, 2 powerbars, 3 scoop of eload.

Bike: 5 and 1/2 eload scoop (appx 150g Carb) mixed into two 750ml bottles, Two E'load gels washed down with water, half a bottle of gatorade

Run: Cup of Gatorade at every aid station

All in all it was a great race with tons of great people. Congrats to everyone who raced on Sunday, especially those who completed a Half for the first time, Robbie, Nicole, Matt, Jason among others. Also congrats to everyone who was out there representing Impact Multisport including Justin for who took 8th place and secured an Ironman Canada spot. A big thanks to everyone that was out there supporting me. I think my family(Mom, Dad, Christine, Bryce, Mike, Josie) probably spent more energy running to different spots to cheer than I did in the race. Also a big thanks to Tracey McQuair from Pro Physio for helping me heal from the Bare Bones and to Kevin for everything he has done to get me to this point. I definitely enjoy racing locally and look forward to doing more local events in the future.

Here are some photos from the event

Back to Texas

2010-04-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

I am headed back to texas tommorow to race the Lonestar 70.3. I am pretty stoked to be heading back to Texas because when I went to Austin in October I had an awesome time. The people down there were awesome, especially my homestay Marla and Kent. Hopefully Galveston can live up to my expectation. My dad is coming along as race support so that is awesome. I kind of have the same feeling about this race as I did going into Mazatlan two years ago. I am fit and ready to throw down a big race. That's my game plan for the weekend, no time or place goals just throw down a big race get to the finish line as fast as possible and see where that stacks up. Focus on nothing but kickin ass.

I'll leave with a quote from the one Chick Show that I watch, One Tree Hill. Well actually its an Ayn Rand quote used on One Tree Hill but I would be telling a lie if I sad I have read anything written by Ayn Rand or knew who she was before I looked up this quote. But it is a quote that really rings true to my life right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY7BYEJdkQw

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours."

Historic Half Marathon

2010-02-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend I traveled to Vancouver to race a Half Marathon and catch some of the Olympic excitement. I had tickets to go see Slovakia vs. Latvia in Hockey. I was amazed at how many people actually owned Latvia Hockey Jerseys. I guess I underestimated the Latvian fan base.
On to the race...

The race started and finished in Fort Langley. The conditions were perfect, not too cold and hardly any wind. I had a feeling I might be running on my own for most of the race and decided to push from the start and try to break the course record. I pushed the pace from the start and going through 5k I was thinking maybe I had gone too fast, however I was at a turn around section and where you run passed the other 1500 people in the race for the next 3k. Its hard to slow down when everyone is cheering you on. I kept the pace high and thankfully my fitness carried me to the finish. 1:08:28. Win, Course record, PB, front running by myself on a hilly course in February, count it.

Try Events the company that held the race did an awesome job. I'll definitely do more of their events in the future. Everything was super well marked, and the volunteers were super friendly. Steve King announcing the finish is always a great touch.

http://www.tryevents.ca/

Vernon 10k

2010-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Instead of posting a race report I'll just copy and paste one from Dirk Handke. The race is a great way to get out and run in February. Normally you are running on a few inches of snow, but this year things were fairly dry. Dirk takes some amazing photos at pretty much every event in the Interior Running Series. The photos here are taken by him. His photos can be viewed here.
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnqcjdw_510fcnszqcc

"Arriving at 9:00am, one hour before the scheduled race start, it was apparent that today would be a big crowd attending. Yes, the weather has been really great these last few weeks here in the Okanagan as well. Greetings and familiar faces everywhere! At 9:45am everyone started to leave the gym and walk down the street to the official starting area and line, where KAL RATS
race director GINNY SELLARS and past RD GERRY NAITO welcomed all runners and gave last minute race and course instructions. The men's overall winner of the last two years, JEFF SYMONDS, was back at the front of the start line, shoulder-to-shoulder with a whole bunch of other highly competitive runners, who were planning to give Jeff a run for his money - not that there was any prize money to be won - whatever ! Anyway... It was fantastic to see the GREAT MARK BOMBA and the 2009 KNEE KNACKER CAMP AARON HEIDT and other local ringers? / runners like SERGIO PIO, GLENN LEAR, JOE WESSEL, BRUCE WARK, etc. The women's side was represented by the OKANAGAN'S MOST ACCOMPLISHED RUNNER of the last 20 years, Kelowna's CINDY RHODES, Vernon's SARAH CLARK and SARAH BAILEY, Salmon Arm's SIM SISTERS - GLYNIS & MERYN and others. The race started a few minutes after 10:00am and as you can see in the photos, the runners of the LEADING PACK, the BREAK-AWAY and the PELETON :-) were there for BUSINESS and not pleasure! After most of the field had passed the 1.5K mark, were yours truly was taking a few
photos, it was time to head back to the finish area as to not miss the arrival of the first finisher. Who would it be, JEFF, MARK or AARON?! WOW ! It was JEFF SYMONDS who came around the second-last turn first, followed closely by AARON HEIDT. And JEFF was able to hold-on and cross the finish line first in a time of 32:11 for his THIRD consecutive win. AARON HEIDT just 15 seconds behind in 32:26, followed by MARK BOMBA in 33:55. First woman to cross the finish line was Vernon's own SARAH CLARK in 39:50, followed by Vernon's SARAH BAILEY in 41:20 and Kelowna's CINDY RHODES in 41:33."

It was a lot of fun racing out there, thanks to everyone who helped put on the event.

A little Sunday Morning Inspiration

2010-01-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Two Awesome Videos to get you out the door.

Season Recap

2010-01-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

I started off 2009 with a three week training camp in Maui. The camp was an unbelievable experience. I got the chance to train with Simon Whitfield, Jordan Rapp, Andrew McCartney, Kyle Jones, Sarah Groff and Lauren Groves. Not only did I get to train with them but also got a chance to see how they live. What they do, how they eat and what not. Definitely the highlight of the trip was climbing up the Haleakala volcano. Unreal. 10,000+ feet of climbing straight up. The biggest thing I took from the camp though was raising my expectation for what I need to do to get to the highest level. I was really hoping that would have received Tri Can funding for the year, but unfortunately that did not happen. I narrowly missed the cut and seeing as it was my last year as an U23 in order to gain any support in the future I was told I needed to Podium at 2 World Cups in a year . Definitely not an impossible task, but at that point in my career it was not going to happen.

In the next couple of month I kept the training going and won a couple of local road races: the Starting Block 10k and the Lakeside 5k. The starting block 10k is an interesting race because the back road that it is raced on isn't snowplowed. (see pic above). I got on TV for being in the race, I am not sure if it was because I won the race or because I was crazy dude that ran in shorts. In March my coach, Kevin Cutjar, and I sat down to figure out a plan for the year given the situation. Simply put, we decided the focus should be to become the fastest triathlete possible and do the race that I wanted to. I mentioned that I was interested in trying a half Ironman and Kevin agreed. We would work towards Oliver and see how I liked the Long distance racing. After a tough week of strep throat that led into my brother wedding I was ready to go. I love triathlon and have had some amazing memories, but Mike and Josies's wedding was by far the best day of my life. Just Awesome.

In April I ran as part of the Bike Barn Corporate team at the Ski 2 Sea relay in Kelowna. For those of you who don't know what the Ski2Sea is, it is a team relay consisting of six legs: a downhill ski, a cross country ski, a mountain bike, a road bike, a run and a 2 person canoe. The event has a great atmosphere and the team aspect is a great change of pace from the individual mentality of most endurance sports. Our team came 3rd overall but won the corporate division, so a great day all round.

The first problem with racing a half Ironman was that I had never actually run a half marathon before. I raced the BMO Vancouver half marathon to see what I am getting into. I remember telling my grandparents before the race, wow 21.1k seems like a massive amount of running. I can't even imagine what that is going to be like after I have already swam 1.9k and biked 90k. The morning of I was stoked. There's something about being in a race with 5600 other people that just gets you amped. I had no clue what to expect and just ran with some guys that seemed to be going at a good pace. I ended up 5th in 1:09:52 and was stoked for some more long races. Unfortunately the next weekend a crash on the bike caused a strained oblique which forced me to miss almost 4 weeks of running and swimming. It wasn't until two days before the Oliver Half I thought I might feel well enough to race.

I am glad I did the race was awesome. It was everything I loved about triathlon and endurance sports. I ended up third and I was hooked. I could barely walk but I was hooked. When the next race. The race also was the first round of competing against my arch nemesis "Team Big Deal". "Team Big Deal" is a group of friends which most notably includes Tom Evans.

I took what I learned from Oliver and got ready for Long Course Nationals in Osoyoos. The race was a huge improvement over Oliver and I ended up second behind Tom, and posted a course record run split. I still was quite a ways off beating Tom but to quote the movie 300, "And a man who fancies himself a god feels a very human chill crawl up his spine."

The race set me up for a personal favourite race of mine the Peach Classic Olympic Distance race. I wasn't expecting much as I had felt pretty awful but you have to defend your backyard. When the gun went off I had the energy and I rolled with it. I ended up leading the race off the bike and cruising in for the win over a field that included Ironman Champs Jordan Rapp, and Jason Shortis. I think Jordan was having an off day and I look forward to racing him at full strength over a half or a possibly a full some time down the road. (The pic is Jordan and I in Maui)

The next race up was the Lake Stevens 70.3. Lake Stevens is located about 30 minutes north of Seattle. It was my first Ironman branded 70.3. I was shooting for a top 5 and hopefully qualify for The World Champs in Clearwater. The plan was to ride solid and then run my way into that top 5. The bike went better than I thought and I headed out on the run with a group of three guys in second place. I held my position and took second. A podium at my first 70.3 and a spot at the World Champs made it an unbelievable day.

In October I entered the BMO Okanagan Half Marathon. The race was a huge success. I ran a similar time to what I had run in Vancouver in May, but I was able to do it in sub zero temperatures and front running the entire race. Being able to stay focused and push myself for the entire race was huge. It gave me a lot of confidence heading into the last two races of the year.

late in October I traveled to Austin for the Longhorn 70.3. Going into the race I knew it was going to be tough as the field was stacked. I made a few tactical mistakes but posted the third fastest run of the day to finish 8th. Although it didn't go as well as I had hoped it gave me both the insight into what I need to do in order to win at the highest level, and the confidence that I can compete and eventually win at that level. I will definitely back at this race.

Only one race left, the Grand Finale, the Ironman 70.3 World Champs in Clearwater Beach Florida. I'll call this one a learning experience. I raced as well as I possibly could have and ended up 33rd. I learned a lot and am confident that I can comeback much stronger next year. That's probably the shortest race recap I have ever given, but anything else would just sound like excuses . Next year I will be fitter and more importantly smarter so the goal is a top ten.

In closing I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who believes in me and has supported me over the past year. Peach City Runners, Adidas Kristi Richards Supporting the Dream Legacy Fund PacificSport. Will, Chris and Lisa at the Bike Barn for keeping me employed among countless other things. Matt for making my bike is both race tuned and looking good. Kim From Cannondale for giving me an awesome deal on my ride of choice, The Cannondale Slice. Brian from Podium imports for getting me connected with Reynolds Wheels. The Element and SDV66 combination is the fastest wheel set I have ever ridden.

That's it for 2009, 2010 has officially begun.

Austin

2009-10-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

How could I come to Austin and not post this video. Great country song. So far the trip has been awesome and I am feeling ready to go.

Great Day

2009-10-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Things are looking good as I head into the last couple of races of the season. I picked up a win yesterday at a Half Marathon in Kelowna and got to meet one of my favorite singers Paul Brandt! He was running the full marathon. Awesome! It was a super cold day though as the temperature was -5 at race start. I am pumped for the next race.

With so many great Paul Brandt songs out there it was hard to pick one to post so, I'll post three. Yeah, I'm a country boy.

2009-10-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

The other day I was talking to Jonathon Caron about what training is like in Penticton over the winter. He's been training down south in the heat for a while and forgot what it is like I guess. I was having a hard time describing it but then I saw a clip on TV that amazingly showed exactly what it is going to be like. It actually featured the both of us. Weird. Here is it.

A few notes,

I am working really hard to grow a Vanilla Ice like haircut.

If anyone knows where I can get a white full body suit let me know.

It looks like the Impact training center is getting a technological upgrade and Kevin is going to be showing up to workouts in a suit or lab coat.

The city of Penticton is going to install a punching bag on the side of the indoor track, awesome.

Which podium import line carries athletic breathable leather jackets? Orca?

What appears to be blatant steroid use is actually B vitamins and glucose... yeah I don't believe that one.

Jonny is going to get a lot of work done around his home this year.

Lastly I am not sure how this kind of training is going to help us as triathletes but we'll be intimidating to say the least.

On a serious note, training is going good, I definitely am going to have some fight in me for the last couple of races.

Ready to Rock

2009-08-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Two days till Lake Stevens and I am feeling ready. How do I know because Kurt Russell came to me in a dream last night dressed like Herb Brooks in Mircale. Here what he said,

Great moments...are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here at Lake Stevens. That's what you've earned here at Lake Stevens. One race. If we raced 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this race, not Sunday. Sunday, you swim with them. Sunday, you ride with them...and you run them down because you can! Tonight, You are the greatest triathlete in the world. You were born to be a triathlete. And you were meant to be there Sunday. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great triathletes the Australians have. Screw 'em. This is your time! Now go out there and take it!

In all seriousness though I am feeling really good and am excited to see how the race plays out. I am pumped to get ugly out there.

If you don't get the humor from earlier in the post here is the original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOSa-sdQswo

On the Road

2009-08-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Just like the Jack Kerouac classic tomorrow I am "on the road". We'll I don't think i am fooling anybody by pretending I have read the novel, but I have listened to the Audiobook so that counts for something. I am hitting the road tomorrow to recon the course for Lake Stevens. I am not sure where I am going to stay exactly, but I have put an air mattress and sleeping bag in the back of my van and we will see where I end up. Possibly the Wal Mart in Everett possibly some campsite. Who knows? That's what makes it exciting. After a couple days in The US I am planning on heading back to the UBC area to just chill lacks and get ready for the race.

I was right about something going wrong. I am nursing a bit of an ankle sprain after an unfortunate van cleaning accident. Marcus told me I need to make up a better story. so let me rephrase that. I am nursing an ankle sprain after an unfortunate mixed up with a cougar. I like mystery in that sentence. I am hoping this is the worst of my problems as I should be back at full training tomorrow. Other than that though I am ready to rock.

A little check list for the upcoming road trip:
Aviators check
Cowboy hat Check
Compression socks Check (yeah I am a tri geek)
Cassette tapes Check (limited supply though choices include Weird Al Yankovic food album and the Power of Love '91)
Super fast bike check
Kick Ass attitude Check

Well looks like I am ready to go.

Time to head off to an outdoor country concert. Jessie Ferrell is the lead act. I would like to post a video of hers but I am not really a fan. Instead I'll post my two favorite road trip songs.

This one goes out to the Carlos brothers as back at UBC we put together a CD of songs that all had the word California in title and this was the best one. We definitely rocked out to it on numerous occasion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Z7AUBLQ1A

The second is just a great song. From a great movie. I love the 80's hair from the guy in the video. That's a look I should go for. Tempting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1a_ikfUico

Quick Update

2009-08-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Training has been rolling along great. Rode for longer than I ever had. Ran some solid sets. Feeling like I am putting some good hay in the barn. To misquote my university track coach today's workout was 10x1k and I wanted it..... well done. mission accomplished. I am feeling right now like something has to go wrong. The race is approaching and things are going nice and smooth. That never seems to happen. I guess this means it's going to be a good one.

Here's a classic song that came on my Ipod today and got me pumped. Usually I like songs with strong lyrical content. This definitely does not fit that description. It did however take me back to my days of singing on High School X-Country road trips. One of these days I gotta learn the dance. Hopefully by posting it here I can brighten somebodies day.

Enjoy the classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6XE1XRiLeY

Ultraman Canada

2009-07-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is the start of Ultraman Canada in Penticton. Ultraman is an interesting event to say the least. The race is spread out over three days. The distances which are spread over three days are as follows.

10.0 K Swim
418.3 K Bike
84.3 K Run

This is a race that I have no desire to do. Not now, not ever. I think an Ironman is more than enough. The oppurtunity to test the body over one day in enough for me. The race also only has 25 people in it. I can't imagine flying halfway around the world, paying the $1800 entry fee, bringing your own crew to do a race with only 25 people. Seems a little crazy to me. It is also in my opinion the worst sport to watch as a spectator. If you were watching there could be an hour go bye before you saw another spectator. Uggghhh.

So I was beginning to think that these Ultramen were a little crazy but then.... one of the guys said that he was preparing for a deca-ironman. This event consists of racing 10 times the Ironman distance. Its a you sleep when you want and who ever finishes first win. The kicker is that the swim is in a 50 meter pool and the run.... on a 400m track. For those keeping score at home that is about 1055 laps. I thought seeing 12 laps to go in a 5k was bad. Will I ever do this race? No thanks, again not interested. The competitor who said he was doing it claimed that he wanted to test his physical limits. I think a better way to do that would be to go to the track and try and run as fast as you can. You probably reach your limits in less than two laps. Different limits maybe but limits nonetheless.

I would like highlight one of the competitors that came through the Bike Barn yesterday. His name is Jason Lester. He has overcome huge obstacles to excel in triathlon. He told the story of how at Ultraman Hawaii last year a boat pulled him out of the water with about 1 k to go because there were a large amount of Jelly fish stinging. Although he was safe in the boat the race officials had to inform him that he would be disqualified if he stayed in the boat. What did he do? He jumped back in there with the Jellyfish and got it done. Awesome. Jason's a story that is particular touching for me as my sisters boyfriend Bryce, has overcome a similar obstacle to continue his love of sport and do things many would have though impossible. Both Jason and Bryce are very inspirational.

Here is his website,

http://www.jasonplester.com/

I love being the underdog

2009-07-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

Two and a half weeks out from Lake Stevens my first of hopefully many M-dot events and I am pumped. Training has been going really well. I am swimming well. I am swimming straight. Watts are up. Running stride is smooth. Weight is down. This last one is kind of a bad thing though as my wetsuit and speed suits are starting to feel a little too baggy. The best part is I am feeling fresh and confidant. Too many times have I approached the build towards an important races as the make or break it. If I don't do this things will go not just wrong but terrible. This time things are different. I know I am fit and going to rock the race. What I do in the prep is just a bonus. I know that the things that are going to make me succeed are not the numbers on my power meters, or the time on my watch during workouts its the other things. The sleeping right, the eating right, the stretching, staying organized and stress free.

As far as I can tell the field is going to be stacked. There are a lot of great athletes who have Lake Stevens on there Race Schedule. At first this got me pretty nervous. But now its got me excited. Bring it. This is my first chance to prove myself on an international long distance stage and I am going to make the most of it. I may not have the experience, reputation, and fan following that many of my competitors will have. But, I am fit, confidant, hungry and most importantly read to get Ugly out there. These are a deadly combination. I love being the underdog. I love turning peoples heads and having them say "Who is that guy?". When it comes to talking about upsets I think the narrator from this clip says it better than I could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sahSEi7diAc

Here's the thing that makes life so interesting: The Theory of Evolution claims that "only the strong shall survive". Maybe so, maybe so. But the Theory of Competition says "just because they're the strong doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked". That's right. See, what every long shot come from behind underdog will tell you is this: The other guy may in fact be the favorite, the odds may be turned against you. Fair enough... But what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test. This is a completely different kind of test. One where passion has a funny way of trumping logic. So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking, just remember: out here, the results don't always add up. No matter what the stats may say and the experts may think and the commentators may have predicted, when the race is on, all bets are off. Don't be surprised if someone decides to flip the script and take a pass on yelling "Uncle". And then suddenly, as the old saying goes, "We got ourselves a game"

Race Reports

2009-07-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

We'll I won't spend too much time on the race reports that I missed because the present and future seem so much more exciting than the past.
Osoyoos Desert Half Ironman aka Canadian National Long Course Championships aka "Canada's toughest Half Ironman"

I don't know about it being the toughest Half Ironman. Oliver definitely demolished me more than this race, but as Kev said "That's what training will do for you". I was actually kind of looking forward to the can walk feeling. But no such luck.

Anyways, the plan going in was to swim hard and not get dropped on the bike...... unless it was either Matt Seeley or my arch nemesis. I got a ride down with Wade Carlson. Great Guy. Set up transition and I was good to go. NO swim warmup as I was running late. The gun went off and I got out well. I got dropped from the lead two about 400 meters in. After that I was in no mans land. I decided to just cruise the rest and try and swim as straight as possible until someone else caught me. Nobody did, so I hit T1 alone. Going into the race I had made it my goal for the fastest transition. I even practiced the run routes the week before. I relaxed a bit on the run and it cost me the fastest split. No big deal expect that only Kevin best my time. Next time coach, next time.

On to the bike and I started climbing. I forgot my SRM at home, rookie mistake, so today was all on me. the plan was to take it easy on the first climb and I stuck to it. About 3-4 mins from the top Matt Seeley and Scott Curry Past me. Okay stick to the plan let Matt go, done. On the decent I really started rolling. Man the Reynolds wheels are fast. I closed the rather large gap that had formed and kept Matt and Scott within eye sight. On the Rollers Matt pulled away and I was content to ride with Scott. At the turnoff to Barcelo the winds started to pick up. I caught back up to Matt and decided to let him do the pace making. The reason for this was not because i was trying to use him. But because he's the reigning course record holder and got that record by crushing the bike. Who was I to pass him. Next time I'll share in the pace making and this will help to reduce the amount of time Tom put into everyone on the bike.

The run happened. Pretty uneventful. I passed Sean Bechtel about 500m in and then just focused on running my race. I ended up in second place and had a massive kick at the finish. There was no real point to kick but I proved to myself that I can crank up the hot wheels if need be.

Peach Classic Olympic Distance Triathlon

I decided to do this race late as I was feeling pretty haggered after Osoyoos. At the Bike Barn the day before the race, my boss Will was trying hard to get some trash talk going between myself and Jordan Rapp (who was working there for a few hours). Things heated up when Jason Shortis showed up. It provided a good laugh, but my tired body was not letting me talk any trash. Next time I'll be game.

Upon arriving at the start I saw a good size chop on the water. Before we raced I even saw white caps. Awesome. I love the harsh conditions. I had a feeling this could be good. In the rough water people could lose big chunks of time. The gun went off and I took it out hard. Quickly I realized I was in the lead and that my best option was to keep crushing it. I swam hard the whole way. Definitely not straight. but hard. The beauty of being out front is that even if you do go off course there is a good chance lots of people will follow. Especially if the buoys guiding you straight have been blow in towards shore. About 200m from shore I saw a yellow and black wetsuit pull up beside me. I thought it was Jordan and he had sat on my feet the whole way. A valiant effort but all for not. Turns out in wasn't Jordan but Facundo. We rolled into T1 with a good size lead on everyone. I got on the bike the adrenaline started flowing and I laid down the hammer. I was going to hold off everyone for as long as possible. I reach the painted rock turn around and was still in the lead. On the way back I saw that I still had a good size lead. Go hard but in control and the run will take care of itself I thought. Rolled into T2 put on my shoes and headed out.

The plan was to run the first half steady and if need be lay down the hammer on the last half. I made it to half way and I saw I still had a large lead. I cruised it in and enjoyed the moment. Anytime when you can win a race in your hometown it is awesome. Today was no different. A great day of racing and my first Triathlon win of the season.

Sprint finish

2009-07-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well I still have a couple race reports to write about the Peach and Osoyoos. While it's fresh in my mind I'll talk about todays adventure, the 6k open water swim. To be more exact it was a 6k open water swim with a 15 m beach sprint. I didn't make the decision to race until last night at around 12:00 so with an early start I was not sure what to expect. In total I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep last night. I am staying at my sister place at UBC and when I woke I couldn't find anything to eat so I went to the only place that was Open...... McDonalds.....The breakfast of champions. I got to the course and wasn't sure how I was feeling emotionally but as soon as I approached registration I was pumped. So the race started with Ian Young going off the front and Facundo Chernikoff and I side by side. Facundo had sat on my feet during the Peach Classic last weekend so I thought that this was my chance for a little payback. In truth though I was actually just hanging on for dear life. He through in a few attacks and on the last lap he slowed down and we were swimming side by side. I knew if was going to be a fast finish. I wasn't sure if my motivation was going to be there to dig deep but we started hammering side by side for the last 600 or so meters. The motivation was definitely there. I love racing. I love pushing myself to the limit and beyond. It doesn't matter if its a national championships or a small local event, I am going to get ugly out there. And during the 15m sprint up the beach that's exactly what I did. The tongue out picture below can vouch for that.

Hard or Epic?

2009-07-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

I thought about this while climbing the Richter the other day in Preparation for the race. My intial thought was, man this is going to be one hard race. Not really a positive thought. I then thought this is, man this is going to be one epic race. At that point it realized that the difference between hard and epic is perspective. I am taking the Epic perspective.

So with that said, things have been going well. My leg is healing up quite nicely, I am feeling fit, and I am more prepared and organized than I have ever been for a race. I might possibly even be able to get a couple good nights sleep leading up. That is unheard of for a procrastinator like me.

I am still not mentally on my game, but I am getting there.

What Al Pacino is talking about here rings especially true to my life right now. Not all of it. But some of it. It definitely helps to get me fired up. I have another movie speech to post but I am saving that for a day closer to the race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

Time to Chill out in the ice bath.

No Bad Days

2009-07-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well its been rough last couple of weeks to say the least. Over the last two days I have developed a bit of a calf injury that has kept me from running. This is great news. I always race well off adversity so this means I am going to kill it on Sunday.

I am very proud to announce Reynolds Wheels has joined my team of Sponsors. I'll make a more detailed post once we figure out what the weapon of choice will be for the weekend.

Well I had better keep this short as I have plenty to do to make sure I am healthy come race day.

A great quote from another Bike Barn employee today. "I am a Lance fan, I never really realized it, But I am a Lance fan." I am definitely a Lance fan. So far the tour has been great to watch.

Vancouver trip

2009-06-24T13:53:00.001-07:00

This weekend I made a trip down to Vancouver to see my Girlfriend Adelle. She's awesome. I travelled by Greyhound so I was unable to bring my bike. I did however borrow an old bike of mine that I gave to my sister. The bike was my first road bike and it felt just as amazing to ride on it this weekend as it did the first time I got it. All in all the trip was great, In addition to the visiting I got in two excellent days of training. I did not know that they now have security guards checking your bags for sharp objects on Greyhounds but apparently they do, but only on the bus I was taking. Weird and uncomfortable. Note to self don't bring an Allan Key on your carry on as it may be confiscated. I totally enjoy taking the bus over driving as it gives you a chance to put your feet up and relax or in my case read a book.

The book I read was "How Lance does it".

If your thoughts are anything like my initial reaction you probably feel like you want to throw up. The cover of the book and the title just seem to be way over the top. The over the topness is what made me pick the book up, but it was the Author Brad Kearns that made me purchase it. Brad is former world number 3 ranked triathlete who I feel has a great outlook on the mental side of sport. I read another book of his an was very impressed. I decided to give this one a shot. BK didn't let me down, its a great read. Yes he may be a little biased towards Lance turning even some of negative characteristics into positive ones, but that is the essence of the book. I would totally reccomend this book for anyone, athlete or not, as long as you can stomach the over the topness tribute to Lance.

Rating: A, Great but we'll save the A+ for something else. Next up is Bobke's biograhpy, made his dry wit will be enough to merit an A+.

Overall things are going very well in terms of traning and preparation. I am ironing out all the little wrinkles and should be ready to kick some ass by July 12th.

Here is a few pics from the Oliver race/

Quality

2009-06-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Training has been awesome these last few days. The focus has been on quality which make things quite painful. During yesterdays run I felt to quote Rocky again "Like I tried to kiss the express train". It was the good burn I haven't felt in over a month. Swimming is coming along well, front back looks pretty good, I just have to make sure I am able to swim it without working too hard. Cycling is going well too, the focus there though is efficiency. I am only cycling so often how can I make the most of my time on the bike.

Because we are taking a quality versus quantity approach I have plenty of time to do other things. Usually my biggest problem is that when I get excited for races or events I am prone to getting sick. Examples Mazatlan, Worlds, Maui training camp, and so on and so on. Therefore this race I plan on using my extra time to combat this by eliminating the stress in the weeks leading up. There is always going to be nervousness and what not but I feel if I can be organized well in advance before the nervousness hits I should be able to come into the race flying. I have surrendered my life over to lists which will hopefully help to keep me more organized and provide a blueprint for future races as well.

I looked over the Osoyoos start list and although its missing Jordan Rapp, thereby denying me of a Jonnyo Rappstar Ironman Canada Preview show it still looks to be a decent field.

a few names I noticed on the start list are

Chris Brown
Jopnathon Caron
Scott Curry
Mike Champigny
Nathan Champness
Ben Cotter
Dallas Cain
Stefan Jakobsen
Adam Jensen
Mike Neill
Olly Piggin
Matt Seeley
Lane Seeley
Cal Zarsyski

Hopefully we'll see Dr Tommy and a few more sign up, its unfortuantely that the Vancouver half is on the same weekend. I'll try and post some predictions with some humor interjected in the weeks to come.

Lastly a big shout out to Olly Piggin as he goes head to head with his Country man Bryan Rhodes in Ironman Cour D'alene.

Wise Words

2009-06-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tXhJniSEc

Four weeks till Osoyoos,

Time to "start building some hurtin bombs"

Back in the Pool

2009-06-12T15:29:00.001-07:00

Today was my first full swim workout since my accident. It felt great to back... for the first 200 meters. I seemed to have forgotten just how long those workouts are and how early 5:30am is. It definitely wasn't my fastest swim but just to be back is awesome. A pure swimmer that I train with Bobby Harling was absolutely crushing it in the lane next to meet. I am predicting a 1500 PB and another Open Water swim national Championship from him.

Race Schedule

2009-06-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I picked out some races for this year that I am excited about. The plan is to do big races and do them well. I am excited to get back into some consistent training and build on the weekends results.

July 12 Osoyoos Half Ironman (Canadian Long Course Championships)

August 2 Calgary 70.3

August 23 Kelowna Apple Triathlon ITU (Canadian Olympic Distance Championships)

September 13 Muskoka 70.3

I have been awful at updating this blog but it time for a change. Starting now I am going to update things every Sunday. So continue to read if you like.

Oliver Half Ironman Race Report (My first Half).

2009-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I should start things off by saying that my outlook going into the race was hope for the best and expect the worst. I have had about 9 weeks of training focused towards Half Ironman as opposed to ITU drafting Olympic distance races. I had a great run at the Vancouver half marathon debut with a 1:09:52 for fifth place. However the following week I fell off my bike while turning into a parking lot. The crash wasn't hard but unfortunately caused me to pull an Oblique muscle. After three days of terrible pain and no training I was able to get back on the bike. Unfortunately swimming and running were not going to happen. In the 4 weeks leading up to the race I swan a total of 5k (half of which was breaststroke pull with a snorkel as that was all I could do without aggravating things) and ran a total of 32k. It wasn't until three days before the race that I knew I was going to be able to finish the swim portion of the race without doing any serious damage. I definitely did not feel ready and the plan was to go in the race and just get a feel for the distance. No expectations except to finish the race feeling like I have done something epic.

Pre Race: 1200 people is a lot. There were also a lot of people who looked fast. Because I was entered through The Bike Barn I was put in the back with other complimentary entrants and next to the 65+ women. One of the competitors made a joke about how out of place we looked and she was right. The first race of the year is always a nervous experience but being here and not with the usual totally jacked up 20-39 mens crowd really help to relax things.

Swim: My oblique felt decent in warm up but I really did not now how swimming 2k would go on the day based on my lack of training over the past month. The plan was to go out reasonably hard and just settle in a super comfortable pace. 400m in I found some feet that were swimming a whole lot straighter than mine and switched on the cruise control. I would have been pleased with 29:00 so the 26:40 I swam was awesome. With some solid training in the next few weeks I will be back on my usual swim form for the next race and come out with the leaders. A long run in the wetsuit and a quick transition and I was ready to go.

Bike: The plan for the bike was to stay between 260-290 watts staying controlled on the hills. I got on my beautiful Cannondale Slice equipped with Reynolds Strike Wheels and settled into the pace. I was rolling along pretty good and when all of a sudden I heard this loud squeal from my wheels. I was sure it was a flat tire. I kept my composure and got off my bike. I checked the front tire, still good and the back tire still good. Two guys flew by me as I am standing on the roadside thinking that one of these tires is flat and I don't know which one. Then I notice that what had actually happen was half a plastic bottle cap had gotten stuck between my wheel and front brake. Whew!!! after a little struggle I pulled the bottle cap out and was back on my way. I lost a fair bit of time but much less than a flat. I got back into my target range about 10 minutes later a group of three guys Olly Piggin, Anthony Toth and Colin MacArthur went by me. I ramped things up and kept pace with them. I looked down and saw I was going well over the planned wattage. My competitiveness got the better of me and I decided that I needed to stay with these guys. I thought that if I say with this group even if I kill myself on the bike I can limp around with them on the run. I let them do the pace making and my hats off to Olly as he did the lions share of the work. I owe him a sandwich from the store across the street from the Bike Barn everyday this week. We both were wearing the new www.enduranceplanner.com jerseys so that probably looked pretty sharp. After 40k where I averaged over my planned wattage, the pace settle in to a more comfortable pace. We ended up catching Mike Neill with about 13k to go adding more firepower to our group on the run.

Run: I had a poor transition by ITU standards but apparently good by half ironman standards it was pretty good as I was first out and everyone else was getting things together as they were running. I decided to start running at a comfortable pace and then run with the group when they caught up. I was feeling pretty rough from the bike so I thought taking it a bit easy at the start would be a good thing. After about a kilometer I looked back to see where the group was and saw no one behind me. I didn't really have a good idea of what my pace should be or more importantly what it should feel like. I also didn't know how the lack of running in the last month would affect me. I ran at what I felt was comfortably smooth. I had a mental image of Craig Alexander running and try to emulate that. I kept rolling along at that pace catching Kyle Marcotte and Ian Young. At the 5k to go point I started opening things up to try and catch Mark Van Akkeran who was in third place. I ended up passing him and was on the home stretch when things started to as my favorite saying goes “Get Ugly Out There”. I don't know if it was running out of energy or just that I had it mentally in my mind that I just needed to catch and pass Mark, but whatever the reason things started to get tough. I had only 2k to go but it felt like forever. I had based my nutrition plan on drinking 250ml of gatorade but looking back on it those cups were not 250mls and a large portion never made it to my mouth. I made it through last 2k and finished the race feeling like I had "done something epic". I didn't even look at the time it wasn't important nor was the placing. What was, was that I got a feel for the distance and I it feels good. I am already pumped for the next one. Congrats to Tom Evans and Jonathon Caron for going 1-2 in the race, you represented the Bike Barn well.

A big thanks to my Coach Kevin Cutjar for keeping me going through the rough patches so far this season. I can already think of a ton of ways I can improve on this performance and I know with his guidance I am going to be more than ready to kill it the next time I toe the line.

Going Long

2009-06-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

To make a long story short I have decided to try out some longer distance races. Not the full Ironman but sticking to the half Distance.

2009 good time for a Blog Post

2009-01-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted on this blog in 6 months. Its also probably been six months since I have gotten a hair. However a wise friend of mine once told me that "long hair makes you run faster because you can draw carbohydrates from your hair during a run". I don't think that statement is scientifically validated in any way, but back in university we always did run faster when we had a John Walker-esque Flow. Maybe I'll complete the look with a Lasse Viren looking chin strap and I'll be flying.

So a quick recap of the 2008 season. I raced a the World's in Vancouver. It was definitely a dream come true. The actual race didn't go as in my dream but it was a great learning experience. It is definitely humbling to have the last place or "turtle" motorbike right behind you during the bike portion of the race. After that race I had a few good low key races and started addressing my "weaknesses" which are, as is the case for most beginner triathletes, too numerous to count. I just read on Jordan Rapp's blog that it take 10,000 hours or 10 years to master something. So I have a very, very long way to go. I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as weaknesses, just opportunities to get better.

When I think about what I want to accomplish in the sport of triathlon my goals are not purely performance oriented. One of my goals is to become the "fastest" I can possibly be. To push my limits of what is possible. Jeff Scheibler, a guy who I have the utmost respect for as both an athlete and a person, taught me this over a beer at the UBC Pit. He also taught me that to succeed in endurance support at the highest level, you can still be a humble nice guy. In 2008 I found out some of the top triathletes, people that I looked up to and respected, were not great people aside from their athletic success. It made me reevaluate ultimately who i want to be in the sport of triathlon. In Penticton I am lucky enough to have tons of great role models in the sport, people like my coach Kevin Cutjar, Steve King, Steve Brown, Neil MacDonald, Jill Savege..... the list could go on for ever. People that might not necessarily be the fastest athletes but have great character and passion for sport. I believe that great character is independent from performance, and I hope that in my quest for becoming the fastest performance wise that I can also succeed in the Character aspect. I believe that without the character aspect the performance side of things really doesn't mean much.

So with that said on to the present. 2009 begins and I am very excited for the coming year. My focus for this year, or to put it another way, my goal, is simply to get faster. I am going in with the half full approach to training, that every training session, I am hear to get a little faster than had I not shown up. I have no major plans for races right now, just getting faster. I have gotten an unbelievable opportunity to attend a training camp with Joel Filliol's group in Maui this January. A big thanks to Jill for telling him good things about me. I can't really find the words to express how excited I am about this opportunity. To work with Canada's best triathletes and Coach.... Amazing. Is it going to weird when I ask Simon Whitfield for his autograph?? Most likely. I am going to be a Sponge for the entire 3 weeks and absorb as much as I can.

I definitely feel like this camp and 2009 is the start of something great. The first step towards a new goal, a goal that is going to take 1300 days of focused training. 1300 days of pain and sacrifice, of ups and down.

London Olympics
2012

Starting today the Olympic Games are no longer a dream they are a goal. My Goal.

One Week To Go

2008-06-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday I'll be taking on the world best in Vancouver as part of Team Canada. This is supposed to be the time when I say that training is going amazing. I should be saying like most people that I am feeling like a fish in the water and Prefrontaine on the run and that every morning I wake up and piss excellence. Unfortunately for whatever reasons, reasons that I nor anyone else that I have talked to, doctors coaches can figure out, it been an awful 9 days. It has been a nightmare both physically and mentally. To sum it up I have felt flat and awful in training, well the limited training that I have done and depressed and stressed mentally.

So this post isn't a wallow in my sorrows woe is me type story. It a put it in the past, sometime life sucks but whatever. I am a believer in fate and a believer in learning. There going to be a reason for all this, it one of those take one step back to take two step forwards kind of scenario. I am also a believer in myself. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, I know that when I get to the start line of the Worlds I am going to kill it. And I don't mean kill it as in place really well, that is beyond my control. I mean kill it as in maximize my performance on the day. To have the drive, confidence and focus on the day to get everything out of myself. If that put me in first or if it gets me lapped on the bike, Its all good I will have "Champed it".

We'll if your reading this sorry to put you through a sappy self realization post. I probably used more Cliches than a Kanye West song but sometimes writing helps you get out your emotions and feelings that can be sorted out in your head.

"The World ain't all Sunshine and Rainbows it’s a very rough mean place. And no matter how tough you think you are it’ll always bring you to your knees and keep you there. Permanently if you let it. You or nobody ain’t never gonna’ hit as hard as life.

But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep movin’ forward…how much you can take and keep movin' forward. If you know what your worth go out and get what your worth, but you gotta’ be willin’ to take the hit" - Rocky

Well I am off to try a indoor cycling workout that I have been unable to finish two times in the past week. Third time is a charm though. Time to Rock.

Bare Bones Duathlon Race Report

2008-05-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

There a 90's country song called The Bug by Mary Chapin Carpenter. I definitely do not endorse this song for its entertainment value but I do for its message. The Chorus goes

" Sometimes you're the windshield, Sometimes you're the bug....... Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger, Sometimes you're the ball"

In Mazatlan I was the Louisville Slugger and in the Bare Bones Duathlon I was the ball. My hat goes off to Andreiy Yasterbov, Scott Trembley and everyone else who flew by me on the bike. I felt great on the first run, totally cruising it while building up a 30 sec lead, but then fell apart on the bike. I fell apart both physically and mentally. By the time I got to the second transition I was pretty far behind and mentally broken. After taking a second well maybe more like a minute to collect myself I decided to finish the race. I finished a disappointing seventh and because of the complete mental collapse, I feel that it was the worst race of my life. However ultimately the race was a success because I learned far more about myself and about racing than I would have if I had raced well or won the race. I am very fortunate that I was able to learn these lessons here in a small local race as opposed to something more important, like say for instance, purely hypothetically speaking, the U23 elite World Championships. I feel its good to write down what I learned so that I or anyone else who reads this blog will be able to apply them to their racing.

So here is a list of things that I learned:

1.) Never underestimate your competition. From now on every race I go into I am the underdog, the one everyone expects to get his ass kicked. I need to be the guy that does all the little things to be prepared to pull off an upset. This will shift my mentality from being someone who is being hunted to one who is doing the hunting. I took the race really lightly, working in the morning, not paying attention to my hydration or nutrition, not worrying about getting proper rest in terms of sleep and recovery. I can’t do that again, I need to do everything if I am going to pull off an upset. My competitors are not people I don’t want to beat me, but rather “scalps” that I want to get.

2.) Think about and prepare for all situations. When I thought of the race I thought of only one scenario, how I would act if the race was going well and I was winning. I did not think about how I would respond or what my strategy would be if the race was going poorly. Had I done this I would have been better able to keep my composure when people started to pass me. This will be key for Worlds i.e. what will I do if I find myself not in the lead pack in the swim or bike.

3.) Practice transitions. This was one of my big goals coming off the Mazatlan race and I have done very little work on them. From now on everyday I will do at least 30 minutes of transition work. Its written down now so I have to follow through.

4.) Sleep. I was slacking off on this one. 7 and bit hours a night doesn't cut it. Its gotta be at least 9 a night. Its written down now so I have to follow through.

5.) Know your limit play within it. I stole that from a gambling addiction tag line but I think it applies here as well. I need to be more mindful of my effort on the bike I can't afford to blow up. I think the wind really masked how hard I was working and I need to make sure that I don't go to hard at any point.

6.) You are going to feel like crap for the first few hundred meters of the bike. Simple remember this and just roll with it.

7.) Get ready early. Have your bike setup the night before so you are not rushing race day. Have all your stuff organized the night before, including your hydration and pre-race food. Actually change that the day before I don’t want to leave it till night-time. Know where you are going to get your coffee before the race. Basically make the race day as stress free as possible, don't take anything for granted even if it’s a small race.

8.) Never stop believing in yourself I lost faith in my ability to catch up in the run. After looking back at results, if I had just had faith in myself and ran hard I could have possibly got on the podium.

9.) No matter how bad I feel, I would feel worse if I dropped out of a race. Don't ever drop out of a race or even contemplate it cause nothing good will come of it. Nothing.

10.) If you don't practice something don't expect to be good at it and adjust your race or your planning accordingly. I have done very little work riding with full aerobars this year, but didn't think this would be a problem. In hind sight I think it was. This exact issue won't be a problem for draft legal races but other things will need to be practiced that I am taking for granted. i.e., swim to bike transitions, cornering, open water swimming.

11.) Form is important. Think about it during all aspects of the race including the run, especially when you are riding the pain train.

12.) Pre race meeting, listen to it. Didn't really affect the race but it would have eliminated some stress and given me some confidence.

13.) Do the 1%er's like stretching and icing. They are small but you need to take advantage of every opportunity

14.) Make sure you are eating well. I have kind of been slacking on this a bit recently, but no more junk food or desserts before Worlds. Once again Its written down now so I have to follow through.

15.)The real race is with yourself not your competitors. Your competitors just outline your weakness and how you can improve. I got this from Fearless a Jet Li movie. I completely lost sight of this in the race. I got wrapped up in what the other people in the race were doing and not what I should be doing. I need to think how I can go faster, how I can push my self harder and what I need to do to get to the finish line sooner.

16.) Everyone has good days and bad days, If you are having a bad day keep your head up, cheer on your fellow athletes, stay positive and move on to the next battle.

That is what this kind of what this post is. A written way of me taking lessons from the Bare Bones and moving on to the next race, The North Shore Triathlon on May 19th. I am definitely going to come ready to rock. I am going to bring my A game as there are a lot of guys there for me to upset.

Obama's got skillz

2008-05-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

I am a huge basketball fan and my respect for Obama went up big time when I saw this clip.

Enjoy

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=_-3ROv_MsNs

Chattahoochee

2008-04-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

I feel like my first couple a posts were pretty melodramatic so I am going to post one of my favorite music videos to keep things upbeat. Straight up I love country music and this is a classic I was raised on. The pictures are of me renacting the video.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=smgVLKoA1sE

Mazatlan Race Report

2008-04-30T15:16:00.002-07:00

I'll start my race report by going back to the Friday before the race. After feeling uncharacteristically exhausted while running an interval workout the previous day I decided to go get the painful bump on my right butt cheek checked out at the hospital. Bad news, the bump was a cyst that needed to be removed surgically as it was affecting the rest of my body. When I asked the doctor what kind of a chance I had of racing next weekend he replied no chance. so They injected me with morphine, then knocked me out with anaesthetics and preformed the surgery. I feel pretty good afterwards, and they told me not to train and come back for IV antibiotics. I came back the next day and had made a much better than expected recovery and was able to easily ride my bike. However in order to help the antibiotics they gave me a substance called propencid. As it was only my second ITU I was not familiar with the doping regulations and rules. Both Morphine and propencid are banned substances as I found out on my third and last day of IV. NO big deal right....right.... wrong. As I would find out later a doctors notice by itself is not sufficient by itself if tested. so at this time I am traveling to Mexico with my dad while my mom is at home trying to figure out the system and what I need to do. It was incredibly stressful as I was faced with the decision of whether I race and if caught basically be banned from the sport for a minimum of a year and be always labeled a doper, or not race travel all that way spend all that money and forgo my only chance to qualify for the World Championships. Ultimately I decided to look long term and not race, but to continue to prepare in case, I had given up hope and it wasn't till the day before the race as a result of both my mom and Dr Keeler (Canadian team doctor) that I was able to race knowing there wouldn't be a problem. I had been able to resume swimming and running by the Wednesday and my injury felt good so I knew it would not be a problem, maybe it was a blessing and I was extra rested.

After a 30 minute delay the race started at 12:20, which unfortunately in Mexico was a very hot time. The swim was an ocean swim with a surf that exceeded 10 feet. IN warm-up I got hit with a face that threw me around so much that I lost my cap, a bad sign? hopefully not. So the race started and we navigated the surf out to the first buoy. Once we got there I just followed the feet in front of me and bodies beside me. Eventually we rounded the last buoy and headed for the beach. It felt like I was in a movie about D-day where everyone catch the surf and hits the beach at different points, and then once your on the beach it people screaming for you to get up to the bunker. I good hear there the lead pack as I ran up the beach and after a good transition I was out on my bike and hammering hard. I am not so good at getting my feet in , but once they were in I flew by a bunch of people. I stuck to the strategy that Jill Savege had said and just time trial it myself and not count on anyone for help. about 2k in I caught a pack rested for a bit and then went to front and hammered. I went out front for about 2.5 K and could totally see how we were gaining on the lead group. I knew it was only a matter of time before we caught them and some of the other guys in my group then started to take turns pulling. We caught the lead group around 8k in there were two guys out front but I didn't even know that till after the race. It took me a while to accept that I was in the lead group that early I checked and saw all the guys I thought would be contenders and even asked Andrew Russell if this was the lead group. After that I rode conservatively in the group, I did some work at the front and maybe next time I might try a break or two, but this time I was just shooting for a top ten and I had good confidence in my running. I came off the bike towards the back of the pack that I was in. Lesson learned always try to get to the front. the course required riders to go through the transition area on their bikes and then turn around a cone and then dismount. This cause a bit of a bottle neck that I got caught in, its too bad I didn't know about the cone I guess that is why you get to the prerace meeting on time. Two lessened learned Never rely on Public transportation especially in Mexico and get to the prerace meeting early. I was horribly slow in transition racking my bike the wrong way and had a real battle putting my shoes on. With the bottleneck entry and slow transition by the time I left transition I was gapped by even the second last person in my group of 24 and was about 20 secs back from the group of 7 guys that were leading the group. At this point I decided just to run my own pace and try and catch up. I began to work my way through the field and was gaining on the lead group for about 5k. I had picked off the stragglers by the time I headed out on the final 2.5k lap. By this time the lead group had started to pull away from me and I was really thinking only two things keeping pouring water on me to stay cool and don't blow up and you'll be top ten. Next time I am not going to be happy with just top ten and will have a different killer instinct mind set, but that is just a raise in expectation. I finished 7th overall and top Canadian I gave a fist pump as I cross the line knowing that I had hit the selection criteria for Worlds. It wasn't until 30 minutes later that I found out that I had won the U23 division and would go up on the podium with the national anthem and what not.

It was defiantly a great experience and I am very pleased with the result. Having said that I eagerly awaiting my next ITU race so I can improve upon my result. I think that although I didn't finish first I did learn more than anyone else there. I know that when I practice and apply the lessons that I learned I am going to be very hard to beat. I know that if I had had a smoother transition I could have ran with that lead group and challenged for the podium. I also know that I'll get it all together by the time the World Championships rolls around in Vancouver. I am waiting to hear back this week as to whether or not I am officially selected but, the Mazatlan result definitely puts me in good standing and puts me on the Triathlon Canada map.

Let me Bring you Up to Speed

2008-04-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was hesitant to jump on the blog bandwagon for a a couple reasons. Firstly I hate talking about myself, some people love but I not one of them. I always find it tough in interviews when people ask questions like what are your strengths or why should I hire you. I also like to stay in the darkness. I like to been the one stalking my prey keeping an eye on the competition and not the other way around. Having said that I am pretty financially strapped and feel that a blog would be a great way in getting my name out there and hopefully attract some support for my dreams. Just as importantly I also enjoy writing. One of my best memories was composing essay of UBC/SFU trash talk on the website TNFnorth.com. Hopefully I can injected into this blog the same fun and light heartedness that was essential to that thread.

So to quote a wiseman Wanye Campbell from Wanye's World
"Let me bring you up to speed"
In a nutshell I am a 22 year old UBC track and cross country alumni who has returned to city where I was raised, Penticton to pursue a career in triathlon. "I still live with my parents which I admit is both bogus and sad" but it make life less stressful and is really the only way I can make my triathlon dream financially work. Despite a degree in Marketing I worked part-time at Rogers video for $8.25 during the winter as it was the only place I could find that would be flexible around my schedule. Currently I am working at the Bike Barn, without a doubt the greatest bike store...nay teh greatest store in the world. They have been very understanding and helpful of my triathlon goals. I swim with the KISU swim club in Penticton under an awesome coach Tina Hoeben. The group I train with is compromised mainly of fast high school athletes. Bobby Harling, Dan Sanders, Peter Kennedy and even young Brian McPhail keep me honest in the pool. Kevin Cutjar, head Coach of Team Impact Multisport is my main coach. I have seen amazing results since I started training with him and would highly reccomend anyone looking to succeed in triathlon to consider him.

Since last September my main goal has first and foremost been to qualify for the U23 World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver. To compete in a World Championship in your home province in the city that you spent four year of University in is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. Having my friends, family and girlfriend (who is incredible for among other things, sticking with me despite living her being at UBC and myself in Penticton) being able to watch me compete on the World stage is definately something you dream about as a kid. Just like dreaming about competing in Ironman Canada, but I am patient on that dream until my speed starts to run out. Because of my inexperience in triathlon I started the year off at a disadvantage in Qualifying for the World Championships. To make things harder for me because of the Olympics the World Championships are beign held much earlier in the year than they have in the past. This means that I have a limited time to prove my worth. The Critieria for selection was published in around february. After discussing the selection criteria with my coach and others from triathlon Canada I determined that if I wanted to get selected I would have to acheive a top 10 placing at the PATCO Pan Amercian Continental Cup Championships in Mazatlan.