Apple Triathlon 2012, #beatdustin

I did not feel like shit coming into this race (see Edmonton report).  This was a massive improvement.  Drove down with Double D on the Thursday and did some riding with Taylor and Dustin who were also going to be racing.  Dust got me into triathlons when we were 16.  I only knew breast stroke and a mountain bike to ride.  All of sudden there is so much more riding on this race.  Coach Tayelor was putting a lot of pressure on me to perform.  Tons of high school friends came out to watch.  It was a riot.

Too hot for wetsuits so I knew it would hurt me more.  I hadn't swum since Edmonton ITU because of school.  Start was a little tight and there was some hitting.  I started right next to a guy who rode a 40.7km/h average and marked him,  hoping to come out with him if possible but totally lost him.  At the start of the second lap, Dustin was right in front of me.  It is a race now folks, hot damn!  I have to thank him because I drafted him for two thirds of the 2nd lap.  He stopped for a brief moment and I tried to drop him.  I got on to somebody else's feet but then they got onto the feet of a fast female and ended up in limbo.  Dust was catching up.  We were right beside each other.  He was two or three steps ahead of me outa the water.   Slower then Edmonton, I swam a 27:58.  Need to be consistant leading up to worlds.

I beat Dustin outa T1 and was gone.  Turned on the burners and I motored past people.  I have the cycling legs, no issues.  Averaged 37km/h, super fun times.  Biked a 1:04 Felt good going into T2.

Start of the run felt good.  Felt like I had the legs and lungs.  I had been able to run 5 times in 4 days in the week leading up.  Just 25 to 30 minutes but consistant.  Then I started to bonk.  Had to hold it together during the middle of the run.  I had to walk an aid station and felt like vomiting.  I could say it was the heat or the disgusting gels but this is denying the real issue.  Due to a lack of consistent training over the last year I only have about an hour and 45 min of total race effort in me currently.  With about 3km to go I got off the struggle bus and had a better finish.  Managed a 44:50, which consisting how crappy I felt, it is surprising.

Super simple plan now.  More training, more consistently.  I've got 6ish weeks before worlds.  Time to put in some hard efforts and keep it consistent.

All and all, I am happy with the result I was able to muster.  A huge thank you to all my friends and my Dad that came out and for Coach Tayelor for putting on the pressure.  Christina and Raquel had some awesomely hilarious signs as well which I will try to find pictures of.

Edmonton ITU Race Week, July 2nd to July

Mon: nothing
Tue: Swiming, jog?
Wed: Felt bad, nothing
Thu: Felt shitty
Fri: still felt shitty but better enough to run for 20 minutes
Sat: 1 lap of the pond
Race Plan
    Swim: eyes up, don't let your head drop; full stroke right to the bottom; enter with a bent arm, no slapping the water
    T1: wetsuit off quick but keep moving; shoes on in T1
    Bike: smooth pedal strokes; sit tall on the climbs
    T2: leave shoes on bike; keep it smooth
    Run: crown up; legs spinning out behind me; landing w/ a bent leg.
Sun: Edmonton ITU
Well that did not go completely according to plan.  The "Felt shitty" above indicates that I was sick.  Super sick.  Thursday I slept for 17 to 18 hours because of a cold.  It was in the high 20s and I had a cold or flu, something was not right.  I wasn't feeling particularly race ready Friday or Saturday but I thought I would be able to string something together for Sunday.  Almost.  Morning of, I was still coughing bad. I was relaxed alright but had to drink way more water then I wanted to before a race.  It was also the hottest weekend in Edmonton in many many moons.  No wetsuit for the swim.  The new tri suit for Worlds was awesome, no sagging.  Into the toilet water we went, I felt good in the water, kept thinking about form and my stroke.  A few times I may have been a little too far off course.  Came out in 26ish mins.  T1 is long so I didn't rush to my bike.  I passed everyone that came out of the water with me at the mount line.  Shoes on was a good idea.  I biked hard, damn hard.  Josh lent me his wonderful wheels again.  People looked as though they were sitting still on Emily Murphy.  No aero bars.  Bad entry into T2, didn't bother to take a peak in the morning.  Legs a little mushy but okay feeling like I could run.  I hadn't coughed much since before the start.  I began to get my legs under me and started passing people.  Felt like I actually pull off a decent race despite being so sick.  Then my head started to drop, form fell apart.  Not good.  Then the coughing fits arrived.  Pulled the cord, race was over.  Might as well pulled out but whatever.  Forgot how many laps I did.  Hung out with Stefan, Sanja, Dave, Bridget and baby Finn until Derek D. came by.  Even ran extra, didn't much care, even took my top off which is a big no no at ITU / Tri Canada events.  Well I executed my race plan to the best of my abilities and training.  Swimming training has been lacking all year but I didn't feel like it hindered my race.  Biking is so much fun, I won't ever stop.  I ran outa gas.  I tried to keep my form together but it doesn't work when you have to stop to cough out a lung.  Maybe I could say I need to train more but I put enough time in for a base and build.  I was just sick, another external factor that was outa my control.


No more blogging until I graduate and become a real adult.

Week of June 25, 2012

Mon: nothing
Tue: Swim 1.5 hours
Wed: Run, 4 x 1 mile (6:00, 6:01, 6:08, 5:58)
Thu: nothing
Fri: Bike; 6 x Folk Fest Hill all faster averages then previous; 5 x Zoo Hill half were faster;  Research Park hawt laps 3 on 1 off, 3 hours total
Sat: Run, 5k with one work interval section to see how shoes would feel on trail, 30min
Sun: Rode out to GWN to watch the folks race. See Strava

Training is getting more consistant, this is good.
Total time 11 hours ish

Week of Jun 18th, 2012

Mon: nothing
Tues: Jog to and from swim. 2k in the pool, 2 hours
Wed: Mountain Bike 1.5 hour
Thu: ???
Fri: Hawt Laps 1 hour
Sat: Devon GP, Crit
      I was feeling good so I rode out to Devon for the Crit.  Double D (Derek Dowling, http://trihackeat.wordpress.com/) took my bag and drove me out to the Road Race the next day, awesome guy.  It was a beautiful day, sunny, little wind and the ride would serve as an excellent warm up.  No dogs chased me either.  Got to Devon with plenty time to spare.  Did some recon laps with Duncan from Fiera and got stoked to race.  This was a points crit, meaning the winner wouldn't necessarily be the first across the line.  We had 15 laps on a 900m course, a super short, balls out race.  There would be 2 two intermediate sprints worth 5 points for the winner while the finishing sprint was 10 points.  The idea was hit it right from the start and drive the pace.  A parade lap behind a Camero SS and the whistle blew signalling the start of the race.   I got to the front as soon as I could.  Heading to turn 4, I attacked and heard a "LET HIM GO!" Damn it.  Well at least I entertained the fans as I came outa the corner slightly ahead of the pack.  I wanted to make a selection happen right away, this race was too short to hang around for the sprints but it was not to be.  Some guys got dropped in the preceding laps but it was negligible. Laps started to blend into each other.  I'm not too sure where I was heading into first intermediate sprint but I scored one point.  I have no idea where I was on the second sprint because totally I missed it.  It would come down to the final sprint.  Heading into the last lap a TCR - TXR guy soled after turn 2.  I heard "Catch his wheel!"  So hammer down I countered too late to catch the TCR - TXR guy.  A junior from Juventus came up to me and got in front of me.  I didn't fret, he was tiny and I think I could have beaten him in the sprint.  Him and I were well positioned to hit the corner fast.  Then a Cranky's guy came on the inside.  It almost ended badly for me.  The junior from Juventus hit the deck hard trying to avoid the Cranky's guy.  The Cranky's guy slide into the meridian too.  After just briefly locking my rear brake I sprinted to the line to take second in the finishing sprint.  With 9 points total I took third overall.  Awesome cupcake.  Both guys that went down in front of me did race the next day.  The junior from Juventus finished 8th overall in the Road Race, what a guy, huge bandages over the right side of his body.
Sun Devon GP, Road Race
       I woke up in the morning feeling kinda shitty.  I have two excuses for this 1) took in a massive amount of suger in various forms after the Crit, 2) took way too much ibuprofen.  I took the ibuprofen to disguise my knee but my knee was still nagging me.  The pain is not what it used to be.  It used to feel like someone was stabbing me.  Now its more of a pulled muscle, not a joint pain.  So starting the race I felt like barfing.  It was an out and back that would take us up Genessee twice.  I was trying to hang on right from the start.  Feeling like barfing and being kinda cold was crappy.  In an attempt to get the jersey on TV I went to the front when I had the space.  The TCR - TXR guys were doing a lot of pulling so I thought I might as well put in some effort and maybe the barfing feeling would go away.  Nope.  Did my time, even sat up when a Speed Theory guy kinda soloed off the front for awhile.  After awhile someone said "Okay time to bring him in" so we did.  I went back to the middle of the peloton as we came to the downhill.  I assumed I was still in the middle when I got to the bottom of the first hill.  Nope.  Not that I have the legs to keep up with the better climbers but that was a technical mistake, it is way harder to even catch on to the lead group when you are at the back of the peloton.  Well time to go and attempt to catch on.  Reeled in guys who had been left behind and three of us formed a great pace line.  Then we caught a larger group.  I had to pull the cord.  We tried to get a pace line going but some of the guys were getting in the way.  I tried to tell people "2 lines, pull through on the outside"  It worked on and off but some guys just would not pull through.  I was not pulling through too fast because I was following the wheel of the guy in front of me.  I didn't care anymore, the race was over we were 3 or 4 minutes down on the leaders and we weren't gona catch them in that state of disarray.  I needed to be by myself and just enjoy the rest of my day on my bike.  Derek had a great race and finished 4th while his teammate Kyle took first.  Good weekend for ERTC.  Josh (ERTC) sneaked past Stefan (Fiera) for 3rd by like 2 cm.  Good weekend for Fiera.  Got some good results and TV time.

Week of June 11th, 2012, Fast Trax Ultra

Mon: CX Ride 5 hours total, split in half.
Tue: Climbing 1 hour
Wed: nothing
Thu: nothing
Fri: nothing
Sat: Fast Trax Ultra 50k - dropped out at 30k, not feeling good at all.  Quads thrashed, black toenails, head ache.  Wake up call, time to put amp it up for Auckland.  It is time to change my attitude and get in the damn pool.  I am racing for my country.  Anywho.  These two very different races but I didn't put in even a meager 6 months of training for this race.  Here is an important quote on the topic.

You don’t become a champion by winning a morning workout.  The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many days, weeks, months, and (if you could come to accept it) years.  The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.

-John L. Parker, Jr. (Once a Runner)

It was nevertheless an awesome fun course and a beautiful day.  There is always such a great vibe at these races.  Derek D had an awesome race and finished 2nd overall in the 30k.

Sun: Recovery Ride, awesome then I got a flat.

Total time: 11 hours.

Week of June 4th, 2012

Mon: Ride out lakeshore
Tue: 1:20 15km run
Wed: 1:15 15km run
Thu: 30min run
Fri: Hawt laps, knee really really hurt.
Sat: work
Sun: work

Week of Mon 21st, 2012

Mon: Climbed Roche Miette 6 hours
Tue: nothing, quads thrashed
Wed: Run 1 hour, legs felt awful initially but got better. 
Thu: nothing
Fri: 12 hills, 5 Folk Fest, 5 Zoo, 2 Emily Murphy 1 hour 30 min
Sat: Ride, knee problems; Run, no knee problems 2 hour 45min
Sun: Pigeon Lake, 2 hours This was not bad luck.  In borrowing Travis's wheels I understood that I might drop my chain.  In an attempt to make an attack I dropped my chain.  10 kilometres in.  I put in a good effort with Peter from Speed Theory to try to get back on but to no avail.  No matter.  That is bike racing.  Bigger issue is that my knee still hurt while I was riding.  I might have to go to a physio.  It only hurts when I'm riding.  Running is fine, swimming fine.  My training has not been regular but it has been a nagging problem since mid winter.  Campus Rec bought pedels for the spin which were shit.

Good hours this week. Nearly 12 hours.  I think next week will be good as well.