All lanes did the same workout since two lanes were being used for video analysis.
200 loose
8x50 20s rest
1 free, 1 kick, 1 non free, 1 pull
12x25 20s rest descend 1-4
12x25 20s rest 1 k right side, 1 k left side, 1 fingertip drag, 1 head up
12x25 20s rest 1 k on back, 1 sprint, 1 catch up, 1 sprint
4x100 a nonfree, 1 kick, 1 free, 1 pull
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Swim Workout October 8th, 2013
As many of you know I am co-coaching the Western University Tri Club. I will be posting the workouts to my blog for anyone who missed practice or anyone who needs a swim workout. There will usually be 3 options of varying distance and pace. "A" will be the longest and "C" will be the shortest. When pace times are designated take appropriate rest for your ability.
A
5x100 (1 swim, 1 kick, 1 swim, 1 drill, 1 swim) on 20s rest
12x25 kick 2x(1 left side both hands at side, 1 right side both hands at side, 2 6kick switch, 1 left side left hand out front, 1 right side right hand out front) 20s rest
16x50 descend 1-4 on 60
3x400 (1s/k by 100, 1 pb, 1 swim)
B
5x100 (1 swim, 1 kick, 1 swim, 1 drill, 1 swim) on 20s rest
12x25 kick 2x(1 left side both hands at side, 1 right side both hands at side, 2 6kick switch, 1 left side left hand out front, 1 right side right hand out front) 20s rest
16x50 descend 1-4 on 1:15
2x400 (1 s/k by 100, 1 swim)
C
5x100 (1 swim, 1 kick, 1 swim, 1 drill, 1 swim) on 20s rest
12x25 kick 2x(1 left side both hands at side, 1 right side both hands at side, 2 6kick switch, 1 left side left hand out front, 1 right side right hand out front) 20s rest
16x25 descend 1-4 on 20s rest
400 s/k by 50
Thursday's practice we will be doing video analysis of people's stroke. If you wish to participate in this please bring $20. If not there will be a regular scheduled practice as well.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Mine Over Matter Off Road Nationals
 |
| It was a muddy one this weekend |
A big thanks to Howie Walker who let me borrow his Specialized Epic. My mountain bike "training" began sometime in June, and consisted of about 1 ride a week at Boler. After Welland we took a bit of an unstructured week so I managed to get in a couple rides that week with AJ Baucco and Ryan Power. One thing I learnt mountain biking is that previewing the course is so crucial so the Monday before the race Ryan, Cliff and I went up to Milton for a ride and run. It only took us four attempts to figure out the mountain bike loop, but I was glad I previewed and knew what was coming even if the race day conditions were completely different.
Saturday night it must have poured because when we got to the race sight Sunday morning everything was drenched. Cliff went for about a 3k warmup ride and came back with his face covered in mud. This was going to be a long messy day.
Swim
The swim was rather uneventful as we all tried to get on Sean Bechtel's feet. I quickly realized this wasn't going to happen and settled in with the chase pack. I came out of the water 4th, and it was on to the bike.
Bike
 |
| And we are off. "Where is Sean? We all have to get on his feet |
The bike was a ton of fun. I tried staying on Karsten's wheel, but he quickly dropped myself and Rui Xu after the first climb. From here on out it was just trying to limit my time lost. I think I did alright on the technical sections, but maybe could have eased off the brakes a bit. However, I think I lost most of my time on the fast/power sections like going up a damn ski hill!! I was 12th on the bike, and I don't think that is to bad for my first attempt at off road racing. The big thing was I kept the rubber side down and didn't crash.
Run
 |
| Thou shalt always be aero even when on a mountain bike |
The run was a back and forth between Rui Xu and I. We had pretty much been together the entire race and were swapping surges as we hammered through the forest trying to catch those ahead of us, and break each other. The last 1.5k was on a gravel road that looped around the lake. I tried putting in a small surge at the last aid station, but after 3 steps my legs said I don't think so. Rui must have sensed I was hurting because he counter attacked and the elastic band was snapped. I was disappointed in my self physically and mentally for not being able to close out the race especially for that last podium spot, but I think that may have been my best run of the year.
 |
| It's far away, but I'm still in it |
 |
| And the band is snapped |
 |
| Glad they had a giant bath for us. |
PS if anyone knows of a mountain bike sponsor let me know. I think it is time to get my own bike.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Welland Half: Chasing Legends
This past weekend I competed in the Ontario Long Course Provincial Championships at the MultiSport Canada Recharge With Milk Welland half iron distance triathlon. Entering this race was a bit of a last minute decision after I had been selected to the Recharge With Milk Development. This is an awesome program that John Salt does to help young racers develop their skills. I thought what better way to test the long course waters then with a near by race that is regarded as being fairly easy aka flat. The race was anything but easy with the hot, humid, and windy conditions. Anyone one that was out there that day, whether they were racing, volunteering, organizing, officiating, or cheering on the athletes deserves a big thank-you. Being the first real hot day we have had this year I think the heat took a lot of people off guard.
I titled this post Chasing Legends because that was exactly how the race went. When I started triathlon a few years back there was 4 names that kept coming up in results and when you would talk to other triathletes: Nigel Gray, Wolfgang Guembel, Richard Pady, and Len Gushe. Unfortunately Len wasn't there, but the other 3 who I have heard so much about were.
Besides the "legends" we also had the up and comers which included myself, Cody Beals, and Chris Balestrini. Chris had done one half already this year and for Cody and I it was our first one ever.
Now onto the race report.
Pre Race
Nutrition
4 rice cakes with peanut butter and banana
Cliff builder bar
One bottle of Infinit Jet Fuel
One can of Red Bull (60 minutes before)
One Cliff Gel right before getting into the water
Saturday night I drove up to Angela's (she had an awesome race and finished 3rd in her first half) house as she was also doing the race and would cut down on commute time to the race sunday morning. Sunday morning we woke up at about 4:15 and it was straight to the food I went.
My warm up consisted of 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minute run, dynamic stretching, and a quick swim. During each I would put in surges at or above race intensity to prime the body for what was going to come.
Swim - 28:14
The swim was rather uneventful. Getting to have our own Pro/EliteAG wave really cut down on the congestion and I was into clean water pretty quick. I tried getting onto Cody's feet, but he managed to get on Angela's speedy feet and I never saw him again. Wolfgang and Rich took off like rockets, but I guess Rich eased off and got onto the feet of Ang and Cody as well. Nigel and I exchanged leads a couple times as we lead a small chase pack. During each segment of the race little demons would sneak in my head saying wow this is long. It was hard to shake these at times and I think staying mentally focused for 4 hours is something that I will have to try and work on.
Bike - 2:18:02
Nutrition
1 bottle of jet fuel
4 cliff gels
2 bottles of water
Being my first half, and the first real hot day I wasn't sure how my nutrition was going to go. I had only planned on one bottle of water and one bottle of jet fuel, but when I approached the final bottle exchange I decided I would grab another bottle of water. I think this strategy paid of because I had one of the best bikes of my life. I knew the fast bike was just waiting for me because I have been putting out good numbers in training, but not in races. It helped on the way out that I was caught by Jakub Macel early on. I new from Andrew Bolton's pre race predictions that Jakub was a strong cyclist. I told myself to hang with him for as long as I can. He pulled away from me just after the first bottle exchange and I was in no man's land for what felt like forever. Finally we came to the small out and back section and I could see where abouts everyone was, and at this point I was caught by Jim Sunners. Once again I told myself to try and stay with Jim as long as I could because it is a lot easier mentally when you can see someone. There was another group of 3 not far behind us that included Francois and Chris. With only about 30k to go I put my head down with the goal of making it to transition before anyone else could catch me.
Run - 1:24:09
Nutrition
couple of cups of water and Heed
This is where my nutrition fell apart. I thought there were going to be gels on course so I didn't bring any of my own. Next time I will not make this mistake because I think it cost me a lot not taking in any calories for the last 90 minutes of the race. I also didn't nail my pacing very well. One thing I did well that I didn't think I would be able to do was use the bathroom. You always hear of guys being able to pee on the run but I never thought I could bring myself to do it phyically or mentally. Unfortunately about 3k into the run I had to go. For about 500m I battled with myself, do i try to hold it, do I let it flow, do I stop? Finally I just had to let it go while on the run. Luckily there was no one around me at this point and I quickly got to an aid station and asked for 3 cups of water. With a couple of guys not far a head a bolted out of transition to catch them. I didn't have a watch on but the first 3k were way to fast. Once I passed Jim, Jakub, and Kenneth (I think) it was time to chase legends (and watch my back for Chris chasing me down). I was pretty far down, but I thought if I kept up the pace I might be able to reel them in. On a double out and back I had lots of opportunities to see where everyone was. I managed to catch Richard part way through the 2nd out and back, but Wolfgang and Nigel were to far ahead and it would have taken a super run to even come close to them. The last 5k felt like I was running through quick sand and with 10 lbs strapped around each leg. I knew Chris and Richard could still catch me if things really imploded so I kept checking my shoulder and telling my self to keep turning the legs over at any pace I could.
Post Race
All in all I was super happy with the race. Coming in last minute and not the ideal training for a half I was happy to go under 4:15 as that was my only goal. This summer has been all over the place for me with draft legal/non-draft, sprint/olympic/half, off road coming up in a couple weeks, and then a sprint duathlon at worlds. I sat down with Cliff Monday night after the race for our debriefing and I think next year I am going to focus on 70.3s. This doesn't mean my draft legal days are over since I still need some top end speed to do well in long course, but I need to start making some money and I enjoyed the 70.3 distance even though it was very difficult.
I titled this post Chasing Legends because that was exactly how the race went. When I started triathlon a few years back there was 4 names that kept coming up in results and when you would talk to other triathletes: Nigel Gray, Wolfgang Guembel, Richard Pady, and Len Gushe. Unfortunately Len wasn't there, but the other 3 who I have heard so much about were.
Besides the "legends" we also had the up and comers which included myself, Cody Beals, and Chris Balestrini. Chris had done one half already this year and for Cody and I it was our first one ever.
Now onto the race report.
Pre Race
Nutrition
4 rice cakes with peanut butter and banana
Cliff builder bar
One bottle of Infinit Jet Fuel
One can of Red Bull (60 minutes before)
One Cliff Gel right before getting into the water
Saturday night I drove up to Angela's (she had an awesome race and finished 3rd in her first half) house as she was also doing the race and would cut down on commute time to the race sunday morning. Sunday morning we woke up at about 4:15 and it was straight to the food I went.
My warm up consisted of 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minute run, dynamic stretching, and a quick swim. During each I would put in surges at or above race intensity to prime the body for what was going to come.
Swim - 28:14
The swim was rather uneventful. Getting to have our own Pro/EliteAG wave really cut down on the congestion and I was into clean water pretty quick. I tried getting onto Cody's feet, but he managed to get on Angela's speedy feet and I never saw him again. Wolfgang and Rich took off like rockets, but I guess Rich eased off and got onto the feet of Ang and Cody as well. Nigel and I exchanged leads a couple times as we lead a small chase pack. During each segment of the race little demons would sneak in my head saying wow this is long. It was hard to shake these at times and I think staying mentally focused for 4 hours is something that I will have to try and work on.
Bird's eye view of the swim as we went under the bridge
Bike - 2:18:02
Nutrition
1 bottle of jet fuel
4 cliff gels
2 bottles of water
Being my first half, and the first real hot day I wasn't sure how my nutrition was going to go. I had only planned on one bottle of water and one bottle of jet fuel, but when I approached the final bottle exchange I decided I would grab another bottle of water. I think this strategy paid of because I had one of the best bikes of my life. I knew the fast bike was just waiting for me because I have been putting out good numbers in training, but not in races. It helped on the way out that I was caught by Jakub Macel early on. I new from Andrew Bolton's pre race predictions that Jakub was a strong cyclist. I told myself to hang with him for as long as I can. He pulled away from me just after the first bottle exchange and I was in no man's land for what felt like forever. Finally we came to the small out and back section and I could see where abouts everyone was, and at this point I was caught by Jim Sunners. Once again I told myself to try and stay with Jim as long as I could because it is a lot easier mentally when you can see someone. There was another group of 3 not far behind us that included Francois and Chris. With only about 30k to go I put my head down with the goal of making it to transition before anyone else could catch me.
Run - 1:24:09
Nutrition
couple of cups of water and Heed
This is where my nutrition fell apart. I thought there were going to be gels on course so I didn't bring any of my own. Next time I will not make this mistake because I think it cost me a lot not taking in any calories for the last 90 minutes of the race. I also didn't nail my pacing very well. One thing I did well that I didn't think I would be able to do was use the bathroom. You always hear of guys being able to pee on the run but I never thought I could bring myself to do it phyically or mentally. Unfortunately about 3k into the run I had to go. For about 500m I battled with myself, do i try to hold it, do I let it flow, do I stop? Finally I just had to let it go while on the run. Luckily there was no one around me at this point and I quickly got to an aid station and asked for 3 cups of water. With a couple of guys not far a head a bolted out of transition to catch them. I didn't have a watch on but the first 3k were way to fast. Once I passed Jim, Jakub, and Kenneth (I think) it was time to chase legends (and watch my back for Chris chasing me down). I was pretty far down, but I thought if I kept up the pace I might be able to reel them in. On a double out and back I had lots of opportunities to see where everyone was. I managed to catch Richard part way through the 2nd out and back, but Wolfgang and Nigel were to far ahead and it would have taken a super run to even come close to them. The last 5k felt like I was running through quick sand and with 10 lbs strapped around each leg. I knew Chris and Richard could still catch me if things really imploded so I kept checking my shoulder and telling my self to keep turning the legs over at any pace I could.
Death march into the finish line
Post Race
All in all I was super happy with the race. Coming in last minute and not the ideal training for a half I was happy to go under 4:15 as that was my only goal. This summer has been all over the place for me with draft legal/non-draft, sprint/olympic/half, off road coming up in a couple weeks, and then a sprint duathlon at worlds. I sat down with Cliff Monday night after the race for our debriefing and I think next year I am going to focus on 70.3s. This doesn't mean my draft legal days are over since I still need some top end speed to do well in long course, but I need to start making some money and I enjoyed the 70.3 distance even though it was very difficult.
She always beats me out of the water
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Quick Woodstock Recap
Last Sunday was the start of local racing in Ontario with the MultiSport Canada Recharge With Milk Woodstock triathlon. This is one of my local favourites and John Salt always puts on a great race. Woodstock was one of the first triathlons I did and I have been back every year since (this year made 4 in a row). Over the years it has undergone some changes in the distance, but I still use it as an excellent way to see where my fitness is at the start of the season. Last year I won the race and the distance was 750m swim, 30k bike. and 7.5k run where I had to run down Mark Linseman. This year it was your traditional sprint distance of 750m, 20k, 5k, and I was hoping to repeat.
Pre Race
The weekend before Angela Quick and I competed at the American Triple T triathlon. Most of you will have read the few reports I did from Ohio, but for those that didn't it was 4 races, 3 days, 140+ miles, and everything was up or down hills. The fatigue from Triple T hit me hard on Friday and I thought I was going to drown in the pool and walk up the hills on my bike. Feeling so tired I did the minimum Cliff asked of me and took Friday and Saturday easy to try and rest up for Sunday. Woodstock was just another race on the schedule so we didn't plan on going in fresh and tapered.
Sunday came and I woke up nice and early to prepare, but I felt like I just didn't have enough time to pack and I was forgetting something. I usually do forget something, but this time I was in the clear and off to Woodstock.
Warm up
Arrived to the race site a little later than usual, but luckily Angela saved me a spot on the rack right near the front, and I didn't have to worry about all kinds of stuff in my way. I threw my wetsuit over the rack to mark my spot and out on the bike I went. My legs didn't feel super snappy but a lot better than I felt on Friday and Saturday. After racking the bike it was off for a quick run. The best part about a run warm up is you can usually find a bathroom that not many people use and avoid the line up of nervous people that only want to make you nervous, and don't they no wetsuits are the best places to pee (especially when the water is cold). I finished up with some mobility drills and a quick dip and soon it was race time.
Swim
Any race Derek Quick shows up to is going to be a fast swim. I tried to get out fast and get on some feet, but I was unsuccessful. I was able to find a nice rhythm though and just focused on minimizing my loses in the swim. I am going to assume the swim was the same as last year and therefore I was just over 40s faster. Awesome.
Transition 1
Rather uneventful, but I did decide to lead the crowd in the YMCA dance as I ran past.
Bike
I was ready to hammer this thing. I managed to catch one of the younger guys in the first couple kilometres, but kept my focus on the small pack that looked to be just up the road. Distance is rather deceiving on the bike because a group can look so close, but you just can't close the cap. I managed to reel in Buddy Green at the turn around and Derek a bit after that. The front group of three was hammering and managed to put a little bit more time into me.
Transition 2
I never played baseball as a kid, but I would always hear about guys sliding into second while watching SportsCenter. So for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to try sliding in to second transition. What actually happened was a combination of many factors that led to disaster. Physics made me it's biatch. When I was getting ready to dismount the foot that had all my weight on it twisted causing my shoe to come unclipped. I felt my shoe drop and tried to save it but I couldn't get my back foot down fast enough. Based on the road rash and what I think happened I must have rolled on the ground then slid. I popped up quickly and off to transition I ran just hoping that I didn't scratch my baby.
Run
Leaving transition I was 4th place and 50s down on the leader. I took a deep breath told myself I had been here before and it was time to leave it on the course. No excuses about being tired from Triple T yada yada just do the work and pull them in. Heading on to the dam I had caught one and the other two were in my sites. I was like a hunter stalking his prey. I came up on Ben Sayles to take the lead just after the turn around. He was looking like he was running well so I put in a surge to try and prevent him from coming with me. From here on I ran scared. I love the feeling of running scared. In my head it was something like don't look back, you know they are coming, just keep going, there is the finish, you got this, ahhhhh its over. I love the look on my parents face when I round that turn in first place. Sometimes I think they are happier than I am.
Post Race
After the race I was pretty sore from the crash. My ankle and hip were a bit bloody and my hand had a nice puff to it. Monday at work Jeff recommended I go for X-rays and the good news is that it came back as no fracture in my hand. I have managed to swim, bike, and run since the race with just a little bit of pain so I shouldn't need any time off.
A lot of people have been asking what is next for me and to be honest I am not sure. The next big one is Duathlon Worlds the beginning of August, but for June and July who knows. I have tossed around the idea of doing the half at Welland just to get a half over with, and I would also like to run a 5K on the track because I am feeling fit and would like to run a pb. I will have to sit down with Cliff and discuss what is next for me.
If you made it this far thanks for reading, and I hope the pictures spiced things up a bit. Thanks to MySportsShooter, Donna Quick, and my dad for the pictures.
Pre Race
The weekend before Angela Quick and I competed at the American Triple T triathlon. Most of you will have read the few reports I did from Ohio, but for those that didn't it was 4 races, 3 days, 140+ miles, and everything was up or down hills. The fatigue from Triple T hit me hard on Friday and I thought I was going to drown in the pool and walk up the hills on my bike. Feeling so tired I did the minimum Cliff asked of me and took Friday and Saturday easy to try and rest up for Sunday. Woodstock was just another race on the schedule so we didn't plan on going in fresh and tapered.
Sunday came and I woke up nice and early to prepare, but I felt like I just didn't have enough time to pack and I was forgetting something. I usually do forget something, but this time I was in the clear and off to Woodstock.
Warm up
Arrived to the race site a little later than usual, but luckily Angela saved me a spot on the rack right near the front, and I didn't have to worry about all kinds of stuff in my way. I threw my wetsuit over the rack to mark my spot and out on the bike I went. My legs didn't feel super snappy but a lot better than I felt on Friday and Saturday. After racking the bike it was off for a quick run. The best part about a run warm up is you can usually find a bathroom that not many people use and avoid the line up of nervous people that only want to make you nervous, and don't they no wetsuits are the best places to pee (especially when the water is cold). I finished up with some mobility drills and a quick dip and soon it was race time.
Swim
Any race Derek Quick shows up to is going to be a fast swim. I tried to get out fast and get on some feet, but I was unsuccessful. I was able to find a nice rhythm though and just focused on minimizing my loses in the swim. I am going to assume the swim was the same as last year and therefore I was just over 40s faster. Awesome.
Transition 1
Rather uneventful, but I did decide to lead the crowd in the YMCA dance as I ran past.
Bike
I was ready to hammer this thing. I managed to catch one of the younger guys in the first couple kilometres, but kept my focus on the small pack that looked to be just up the road. Distance is rather deceiving on the bike because a group can look so close, but you just can't close the cap. I managed to reel in Buddy Green at the turn around and Derek a bit after that. The front group of three was hammering and managed to put a little bit more time into me.
Transition 2
I never played baseball as a kid, but I would always hear about guys sliding into second while watching SportsCenter. So for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to try sliding in to second transition. What actually happened was a combination of many factors that led to disaster. Physics made me it's biatch. When I was getting ready to dismount the foot that had all my weight on it twisted causing my shoe to come unclipped. I felt my shoe drop and tried to save it but I couldn't get my back foot down fast enough. Based on the road rash and what I think happened I must have rolled on the ground then slid. I popped up quickly and off to transition I ran just hoping that I didn't scratch my baby.
Leaving transition I was 4th place and 50s down on the leader. I took a deep breath told myself I had been here before and it was time to leave it on the course. No excuses about being tired from Triple T yada yada just do the work and pull them in. Heading on to the dam I had caught one and the other two were in my sites. I was like a hunter stalking his prey. I came up on Ben Sayles to take the lead just after the turn around. He was looking like he was running well so I put in a surge to try and prevent him from coming with me. From here on I ran scared. I love the feeling of running scared. In my head it was something like don't look back, you know they are coming, just keep going, there is the finish, you got this, ahhhhh its over. I love the look on my parents face when I round that turn in first place. Sometimes I think they are happier than I am.
Post Race
After the race I was pretty sore from the crash. My ankle and hip were a bit bloody and my hand had a nice puff to it. Monday at work Jeff recommended I go for X-rays and the good news is that it came back as no fracture in my hand. I have managed to swim, bike, and run since the race with just a little bit of pain so I shouldn't need any time off.
If you made it this far thanks for reading, and I hope the pictures spiced things up a bit. Thanks to MySportsShooter, Donna Quick, and my dad for the pictures.
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.
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