OUCH!! That's all she wrote.
I will post more tonight or tomorrow morning.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Olympic Number 1
So after checking the results from the super sprint I was 3rd overall and We think Angela was in the top 3. The results are a bit confusing because each division has a number code based on junior, master, etc. So we aren't sure where we are in the coed overall but we are leading the coed junior.
So on to today's race. That course was tough. Swim went well and exited the water in 6th, Ang had an awesome swim and came into transition right behind me despite starting about a minute back. I got out of transition quickly and moved into 4th within the first kilometre or so. From then on I didn't see a single person the rest of the day.
From what I have heard this is when the real racing starts. The warmup is over and the people that went to hard in the first two races start to pay. I'm a bit tired, but don't think I over did it. Hopefully Ang can pull me up the hills and through the water.
The next races is a bike swim run olympic distance where the teams can draft off of each other. Since I am number 5 Ang gets to move up and start with me. We aren't sure where the next coed team is starting so were going to have to race fftf (fast from the front) and just keep pushing to end. The time trial format is difficult because I could see it being easy to let up if you think you have a lead but someone could have started fifteen minutes behind you.
I will try to write a recap of the afternoon race before or after we go for dinner. Thanks everyone back home for the support.
So on to today's race. That course was tough. Swim went well and exited the water in 6th, Ang had an awesome swim and came into transition right behind me despite starting about a minute back. I got out of transition quickly and moved into 4th within the first kilometre or so. From then on I didn't see a single person the rest of the day.
From what I have heard this is when the real racing starts. The warmup is over and the people that went to hard in the first two races start to pay. I'm a bit tired, but don't think I over did it. Hopefully Ang can pull me up the hills and through the water.
The next races is a bike swim run olympic distance where the teams can draft off of each other. Since I am number 5 Ang gets to move up and start with me. We aren't sure where the next coed team is starting so were going to have to race fftf (fast from the front) and just keep pushing to end. The time trial format is difficult because I could see it being easy to let up if you think you have a lead but someone could have started fifteen minutes behind you.
I will try to write a recap of the afternoon race before or after we go for dinner. Thanks everyone back home for the support.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Triple T Super Sprint
I think the super sprint might be my calling. About 25 minutes of torture, and it is all over. The course for the super sprint was a funky triangle 250m swim, a 6k bike where you go down hill for about 500m uphill for 2.5k, 250m down 250 up, and a 1500m downhill, followed by a 1 mile run.
The start was delayed for 25 minutes because they were worried about a storm moving in. It started to rain a bit, but not enough to notice.
The swim was a time trial start with 3 guys going off every 3 seconds. My plan for the super sprint was to go hard from the gun because I should have enough time to recover before the rest of the races. You could dolphin dive for about the first 10m before you made a sharp right hand turn to start the triangle. I managed to catch the 3rd place guy before the first buoy and was up to the leaders by the second buoy. After that it was a 3 or 4 wide drag race for the exit. I managed to come out of the water first which is a really strange feeling.
I exited t1 still in the lead and it was off on the bike. All I wanted to do was get to the top of the hill asap and could recover on the way down. I got caught by one guy right at the bottom and another at the top. I repassed the last guy on the downhill where I "recovered" going 70kmh.
The run was uneventful as the gap between everyone stayed about the same. I think because it was such a low cadence grind up the hill on the bike my legs just did not want to turn over. I crossed the finish line second, but with the time trial start we are not sure if I was 2nd or not.
Angela had a really good race as well passing a lot of people on the swim bike and run. There is a chance she was the first girl overall, but we are waiting to see the results in the morning. Hugh and Amanda had great races also, but Hugh thought he might have been a bit slower than last year or the swim longer.
You can't win the race in the super sprint, but you can lose it. We all finished and are in good spirits heading into the double olympic tomorrow.
The start was delayed for 25 minutes because they were worried about a storm moving in. It started to rain a bit, but not enough to notice.
The swim was a time trial start with 3 guys going off every 3 seconds. My plan for the super sprint was to go hard from the gun because I should have enough time to recover before the rest of the races. You could dolphin dive for about the first 10m before you made a sharp right hand turn to start the triangle. I managed to catch the 3rd place guy before the first buoy and was up to the leaders by the second buoy. After that it was a 3 or 4 wide drag race for the exit. I managed to come out of the water first which is a really strange feeling.
I exited t1 still in the lead and it was off on the bike. All I wanted to do was get to the top of the hill asap and could recover on the way down. I got caught by one guy right at the bottom and another at the top. I repassed the last guy on the downhill where I "recovered" going 70kmh.
The run was uneventful as the gap between everyone stayed about the same. I think because it was such a low cadence grind up the hill on the bike my legs just did not want to turn over. I crossed the finish line second, but with the time trial start we are not sure if I was 2nd or not.
Angela had a really good race as well passing a lot of people on the swim bike and run. There is a chance she was the first girl overall, but we are waiting to see the results in the morning. Hugh and Amanda had great races also, but Hugh thought he might have been a bit slower than last year or the swim longer.
You can't win the race in the super sprint, but you can lose it. We all finished and are in good spirits heading into the double olympic tomorrow.
Triple T pre race
It is now 2.5 hours until the start of one of the most epic races in triathlon, American Triple T. Triple T is not just your run of the mill triathlon, it is 3 of them and a fourth that makes you swim in between the bike and the run. The races can be done as a team or individual, so Angela Quick and I decided that we would enter the event as a team. Hugh Pindur and Amanda Worden-Rogers are also down with us this morning with a strong London showing. In the team format the first to races (super sprint and regular Oly) the add your times together, and the last two races (bike/swim/run Oly and a half iron) we must start and finish together.
I am going to try and update this throughout the weekend so if people to check in on how we are doing this might be the best place. We are in back country Ohio and I am not sure how fast they will get results up online.
This morning we went to check out the course. Did a short bike on the super sprint and half course followed by a run on the run course. The course is beautiful! Lots of climbs, lots of descents, and lots of turns. This should make the bike go by quickly especially on the two loop half. I only ran about 7k of the 10k run course, but it seems like you go up hill for 4k, down for 1k, then come back. The hardest part of the run might be keeping your momentum on the downhills and not breaking. Coming down the one section I was running the fast I have run since high school (according to garmin) and I still felt like I was breaking a bit.
The weather here is hot and humid and with that comes dense morning fog and a high chance of thunderstorms. Here's to hoping everything goes smooth. The biggest challenge for me is going to be my nutrition. I'm so used to having a lot of recovery time between races and often skimp on the in race calories (Knoxville I had one gel and a couple sips of water).
Hopefully I can update everyone regularly.
Cheers!
I am going to try and update this throughout the weekend so if people to check in on how we are doing this might be the best place. We are in back country Ohio and I am not sure how fast they will get results up online.
This morning we went to check out the course. Did a short bike on the super sprint and half course followed by a run on the run course. The course is beautiful! Lots of climbs, lots of descents, and lots of turns. This should make the bike go by quickly especially on the two loop half. I only ran about 7k of the 10k run course, but it seems like you go up hill for 4k, down for 1k, then come back. The hardest part of the run might be keeping your momentum on the downhills and not breaking. Coming down the one section I was running the fast I have run since high school (according to garmin) and I still felt like I was breaking a bit.
The weather here is hot and humid and with that comes dense morning fog and a high chance of thunderstorms. Here's to hoping everything goes smooth. The biggest challenge for me is going to be my nutrition. I'm so used to having a lot of recovery time between races and often skimp on the in race calories (Knoxville I had one gel and a couple sips of water).
Hopefully I can update everyone regularly.
Cheers!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Masters Swim Meet
A couple of weekends ago I competed in the Ontario Masters Swimming Championships. It isn't often triathletes get the chance to swim in a controlled environment, and this was the best opportunity to see what I could do at the end of my swim focus. Last year, because of exams and Queen's Spring Fling, I was only able to compete in the 100m free, 100 IM, 100 back, and 400 free, but this year I took full advantage of the weekend swimming every freestyle event from 50-1500 and 3 relays (Men's 4x50 medley, Men's 4x50 free, and mixed 4x50 free).
Even though training was going really well leading into the meet I was not expecting any really fast swims when I was doing that many races, but since the 1500m was first I really wanted to see what I could do there. I had never swam a pool 1500m prior to this meet so I wasn't entirely sure how to pace it, and being the slowest seed in the fast heat I didn't think I would have anyone to go off of. When the race started I went out at a pace I like to call comfortably uncomfortable and focused on a long strong stroke and saving my kick for later in the race. Mid way through the race I wasn't far behind the guy beside me, and he said he was aiming for 18:30 so I knew I had a chance to go under 19. I ended up finishing in 18:52. I was happy with this, and the fact that my splits were pretty even throughout the swim.
The next day consisted of the 100m, 3 50s (2 in relays), an the 400m. The 400m is the event I have swam the most and the only one I had a real goal in. I wanted to go 4:4x. The problem for me in the 400m is that my brain is thinking swim swim swim and I loose count of how many lengths. If any one else has this problem it is always one more than you think because very rarely do you under count. With 100 to go I thought I only had 50 to go, but I popped my head up and when I saw they weren't standing on the edge to stop the clock I realized I had another 50. At this point my arms and legs were telling me how much they hated me and I was doing everything I could to keep the stroke "long". I ended with a 4:48.
The final day was the 200 and the 800. By this point my body was getting exhausted, but I kept telling myself it was good training for Triple T where we will have 4 races in 3 days. My plan in the 200 was to just go all out and see what happened. I progressively faded throughout the race and went 2:14. The 800m was the last event, and I was in the last heat. Lets just say it didn't go that well. Red Bull can only get you up so many times before your body rebels (5 in 3 days probably wash't the greatest decision), but it was able to get me up for my first 4 events I was focusing on.
All in all the meet was a wonderful success and I would recommend masters swimming to all triathletes. It is a great way to measure fitness and set bench marks. I ended the meet with 6 pbs in 6 events (29.x, 1:02, 2:14, 4:48, 10:08, and 18:52).
I want to thank Ken Fitzpatrick for all the hard work he has put into my swimming as well as the meet, and the London Silver Dolphins for hosting an excellent meet.
Full results can be found a thttp://2013provincialchampionships.com/Portals/46/Results/
Even though training was going really well leading into the meet I was not expecting any really fast swims when I was doing that many races, but since the 1500m was first I really wanted to see what I could do there. I had never swam a pool 1500m prior to this meet so I wasn't entirely sure how to pace it, and being the slowest seed in the fast heat I didn't think I would have anyone to go off of. When the race started I went out at a pace I like to call comfortably uncomfortable and focused on a long strong stroke and saving my kick for later in the race. Mid way through the race I wasn't far behind the guy beside me, and he said he was aiming for 18:30 so I knew I had a chance to go under 19. I ended up finishing in 18:52. I was happy with this, and the fact that my splits were pretty even throughout the swim.
The next day consisted of the 100m, 3 50s (2 in relays), an the 400m. The 400m is the event I have swam the most and the only one I had a real goal in. I wanted to go 4:4x. The problem for me in the 400m is that my brain is thinking swim swim swim and I loose count of how many lengths. If any one else has this problem it is always one more than you think because very rarely do you under count. With 100 to go I thought I only had 50 to go, but I popped my head up and when I saw they weren't standing on the edge to stop the clock I realized I had another 50. At this point my arms and legs were telling me how much they hated me and I was doing everything I could to keep the stroke "long". I ended with a 4:48.
The final day was the 200 and the 800. By this point my body was getting exhausted, but I kept telling myself it was good training for Triple T where we will have 4 races in 3 days. My plan in the 200 was to just go all out and see what happened. I progressively faded throughout the race and went 2:14. The 800m was the last event, and I was in the last heat. Lets just say it didn't go that well. Red Bull can only get you up so many times before your body rebels (5 in 3 days probably wash't the greatest decision), but it was able to get me up for my first 4 events I was focusing on.
All in all the meet was a wonderful success and I would recommend masters swimming to all triathletes. It is a great way to measure fitness and set bench marks. I ended the meet with 6 pbs in 6 events (29.x, 1:02, 2:14, 4:48, 10:08, and 18:52).
I want to thank Ken Fitzpatrick for all the hard work he has put into my swimming as well as the meet, and the London Silver Dolphins for hosting an excellent meet.
Full results can be found a thttp://2013provincialchampionships.com/Portals/46/Results/
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Clermont Race Report
Well here goes my first race report of the season. It was weird racing in March, but it was nice to start the season so earlier. I arrived in Florida Wednesday afternoon, and had a couple days to prepare for the race. Friday was a short swim, bike, and run to get the body ready to go for Saturday afternoon.
Woke up Saturday morning pretty early because I am staying about an hour from Clermont. To get into the park you had to drive on the bike course so I wanted to go in before the girls start so I wouldn't be rushed to get ready.
Swim
The swim was a beach start and wetsuit legal. As soon as the horn went I was at the back. Having only done a handful of beach starts this is not my forte and little legs don't help running through the water. I settled in after a couple dolphin dives and found some feet. I was surrounded by swimmers so things weren't going terribly. I stayed here for the rest of the swim.
Transition 1
This is when things got ugly. It was a long run from the water up to the beach and I got passed by a couple guys on the way to transition. When I got to my bike I struggled to get my wetsuit off and missed the pack on the way out.
Bike
Draft legal racing is tough!!! If you don't make a pack it is a long day. I missed the initial pack to go out, but there were two others as well so I thought there was a chance of getting back on. I rode that first 2.5k at max effort. When we got to the turnaround my legs were fried, and I couldn't get on the wheel of our leader of 3. This proved costly as he was able to bridge the gap and I was left with one other guy. We did the rest of the ride together and managed to work well, but we were continually loosing time to the larger group.
Run
The run was a mental reset and I put the rest of the race behind me and just focused on running. Each turnaround I noticed I was getting closer to the 2 guys ahead of me so I jut focused on pulling them in. I managed to catch them just before the finish. I surged hoping they wouldn't come with me, but they stayed with me and managed to out kick me in the end.
Conclusion
Practice transitions!! I have one week until Sarasota and I am hoping for a much better race. If i don't have one there is a good chance I will be lapped out. I will make that pack. My fitness is good I just need to minimize those mistakes, and I should be right there. I am looking forward to a solid week of training in the Florida warmth. It is still March and while I would love to have strong results there is still a lot of racing to come.
Woke up Saturday morning pretty early because I am staying about an hour from Clermont. To get into the park you had to drive on the bike course so I wanted to go in before the girls start so I wouldn't be rushed to get ready.
Swim
The swim was a beach start and wetsuit legal. As soon as the horn went I was at the back. Having only done a handful of beach starts this is not my forte and little legs don't help running through the water. I settled in after a couple dolphin dives and found some feet. I was surrounded by swimmers so things weren't going terribly. I stayed here for the rest of the swim.
Transition 1
This is when things got ugly. It was a long run from the water up to the beach and I got passed by a couple guys on the way to transition. When I got to my bike I struggled to get my wetsuit off and missed the pack on the way out.
Bike
Draft legal racing is tough!!! If you don't make a pack it is a long day. I missed the initial pack to go out, but there were two others as well so I thought there was a chance of getting back on. I rode that first 2.5k at max effort. When we got to the turnaround my legs were fried, and I couldn't get on the wheel of our leader of 3. This proved costly as he was able to bridge the gap and I was left with one other guy. We did the rest of the ride together and managed to work well, but we were continually loosing time to the larger group.
Run
The run was a mental reset and I put the rest of the race behind me and just focused on running. Each turnaround I noticed I was getting closer to the 2 guys ahead of me so I jut focused on pulling them in. I managed to catch them just before the finish. I surged hoping they wouldn't come with me, but they stayed with me and managed to out kick me in the end.
Conclusion
Practice transitions!! I have one week until Sarasota and I am hoping for a much better race. If i don't have one there is a good chance I will be lapped out. I will make that pack. My fitness is good I just need to minimize those mistakes, and I should be right there. I am looking forward to a solid week of training in the Florida warmth. It is still March and while I would love to have strong results there is still a lot of racing to come.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Change Of Plans
I decided I am going to quit triathlon and take up wrestling . . . oh wait it just got dropped from the Olympics. I don't agree with that decision, but this is not what this post is going to be about because no matter who gets cut they are not going to be happy.
The real change in plans is that I am going to be going to Clermont March 9th for the ITU Continental Cup, and then I will be staying the following week to race the Continental Cup in Sarasota. I can't wait to get out there and race. I have been really itching to race the last month or so after getting a small taste of racing at the swim meet.
I am always a bit nervous going into big races like this. I think my biggest fear is always getting lapped out. With a 4x5km looped bike course it should be difficult to get lapped out of Clermont (even with the staked field that has a few past Olympians).
I will be knocking the rust of this weekend at the Really Chilly Road Race. It seems like most people are entered in the 10k, but I am going to do the 5k to see where my legs are at.
The real change in plans is that I am going to be going to Clermont March 9th for the ITU Continental Cup, and then I will be staying the following week to race the Continental Cup in Sarasota. I can't wait to get out there and race. I have been really itching to race the last month or so after getting a small taste of racing at the swim meet.
I am always a bit nervous going into big races like this. I think my biggest fear is always getting lapped out. With a 4x5km looped bike course it should be difficult to get lapped out of Clermont (even with the staked field that has a few past Olympians).
I will be knocking the rust of this weekend at the Really Chilly Road Race. It seems like most people are entered in the 10k, but I am going to do the 5k to see where my legs are at.
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