Domestique Diaries – Workout Chores

Athletes have an innate determination to push themselves to the limit, both physically and mentally in key workouts and during a race. They have the ability to push through the hardest circumstances and constantly test their athletic ability. They strive for excellence, and hit every workout to the tee regardless of external circumstances. These are personalities that make not just an athlete, but a world class athlete. These personalities carry over into the athlete’s life and other pursuits and if wise enough into household chores; here’s how I found the link.

Household Chores/ Workout

Brent has the athlete personality to plough through everything and sometimes this can be to my advantage. I’m a cleaner-extraordinaire no need to lie, I love cleaning and am convinced I have mild OCD when it comes to cleaning. Anyways since living with Brent I’ve been content with doing all the cleaning myself, cause then it’s done to my standards. Well since Brent has been on down time, he has willingly asked to help with weekly chores by volunteering to clean the bathrooms. So the first week, I pick Brent up some manly blue rubber gloves and he sets off to clean the bathrooms while I clean the rest of the house.

Brent, having that personality ploughs through it and when I go to check it out it’s done just a little sub par. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just different from my way. I don’t want to tell him it’s a little sub par, so I grin and bear it. Later in the week I start to question his process during conversations and I find him answering things like “you don’t need to wash the shower because the soap from showering cleans it every time you shower”, and “the floor didn’t look dirty so it didn’t need to be washed this week”. So inside I’m having a little anxiety attack, the next day when I’m home before Brent I re-clean the bathrooms. Mentally all week I rack my brain about how to approach this minute dilemma, I don’t want to turn Brent off of chores so soon by telling him about his sub par performance, especially since he was so happy about it.

Then it hits me, a workout chore with all the steps written out for Brent to follow and plough trough just like he does his workouts.

So I buy a chore checklist and write out the following for Brent:

Focus: Clean bathrooms

WU: remove and shake/vacuum all carpets from bathroom and kitchen

MS: 1 x shower and tub scrub

2 x toilet bowl, seat scrub (1’)

300 m vacuum- all floors

CD: 2 x Windex mirrors (1’)

2 x wash floors in bathroom (1’)

Fold laundry in laundry room

The result was a magnificently cleaned bathroom. Just as suspected Brent hammered through this as accurately as he does a workout. I realized later if you don’t put a date on the top Brent wants to hammer it out right away. So as long as the date is there, on that day no matter what else he has going on, he will hammer through that workout chore and with sufficient detail on the workout he will do it exactly as it appears on the workout. I have to admit its a little fun for me to write out a new workout chore every week. I change it up all the time so it never gets boring for either of us. And that athlete determination shines through even in weekly chores. What a household!

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-your chores are written out in workout form and are hammered out with determination and mad skills.

Live laughing,

Carley J

Inaugural Domestic Diaries

Since off season is a rather slow time in blog world I decided I would take this time to share with you some of the odd and plain old hilarious stories that I can’t help but laugh hysterically at, about living with a triathlete. Remember, it’s just good old fun from me, Brent’s better half, so enjoy these probably relevant stories and share them with your loved ones.

Meal Time

I was living here less than one week when I decided I would be nice and prepare a dinner for Brent while he was out training late one night. We had prepared many dinners together in the past; even when I was the one preparing the bulk of the meal, Brent was always hovering around the kitchen. This time I thought I would surprise him and prepare dinner all by myself.

After work I hustled to the grocery store and picked up the necessities. I decided I was going to make a family recipe that we like to call “tomato, chicken and brown rice.” Brent arrived home to see me taking the casserole dish filled with veggies and chicken in a tomato watery soup out of the oven. I was proud with my finished masterpiece displaying it for Brent to see. At first he looked surprised yet uneasy, and then he turned into the food police. I thought I had committed some unlawful offense; my first instinct was to scan the kitchen, nothing was on fire and it was clean, so I thought well I’m in the clear on this one. Turns out I had to answer about 150 questions about the food preparation. He asked me everything from “did you grease the pans while you were browning the meat?” to “did you use a measuring cup to measure the rice” and even, “where’s the organic can of crushed tomatoes that you used?” I answered all the questions truthfully stating I didn’t use anything to grease the pan, I measured exactly ½ cup of brown rice and I already recycled the can of organic tomatoes. After this question and answered period and a taste test I passed and Brent enjoyed the meal.

Lesson learned: Athletes need to know everything they are consuming especially before a big race. In hindsight, Brent hovering in the kitchen was not to keep me company like I thought it was, but rather it was to spy on my cooking skills. In the future I understand to keep the cans for Brent to analyze and display a recipe with the exact composition of my masterpieces.

Condo Hall Sprints

One more story that I thought was just hilarious therefore have to share. I have to admit I played a big part in this as I am also a competitive person just like Brent; however Brent was by far the instigator. Our condo is the last in a carpeted 50 meter hallway. I’m not even sure how the sequential events took place but one night after taking the garbage down the hall I found myself in my pajamas sprinting bare foot against Brent down the condo hall.

Here’s how I think this happened. I ran the garbage down and when I came back I was slightly huffing and puffing and immediately Brent’s “training instincts” kicked in. In his head here’s what I picture “She just burned some calories and I didn’t that’s it I have to get even”. So there we were two grown people laughing hysterically while sprinting down the hallway. And of course Brent takes it a step further. We ended up racing a number of times because both of us declared illegal actions on the other person, finally Brent pulled out a stop watch and we timed each other and crowned a winner. After recording Brent’s time he of course wanted to know the distance so attempted to use his Garmin GPS. At the end I remember Brent telling me about speed work and increasing metabolism, but to me it was plain old fun.

To sum up these two hilarious adventures I leave you with this common “You know you’re living with a triathlete when:”

-your kitchen contains more measuring cups than plates

-you get grilled over the composition of every meal before consuming it

-even taking the garbage down the hall amounts to a workout and a fierce competition

I hope to be posting quite frequently throughout this off season as the stories keep rolling in and they are quite amusing. Please stay tuned for more Diaries from the Domestique.

Live Laughing,

Carley J

Clearwater 70.3

2009 Clearwater 70.3 Race Report

This past Sunday I raced at the 70.3 World Triathlon Championships in Clearwater, Florida. It has been a long, fun season and I was looking forward to one last hard effort in 2009. Coming off a great race two weeks ago in Austin, Texas I felt pretty confident that I was ready to go.

At the end of the day, I feel as though I came up a bit short finishing overall in 37^th with a time of 3:47:55. Taking the week to evaluate things I realize that it was a solid race, with a very big field of 85 pro men.

I realized early on in the race that the swim was going to dictate my position going into the run. Leading into the race my swimming was very strong; to analyze my swim in Clearwater I would have to say it was a poor performance. I knew I had the speed however; I spent the first 800m battling with other swimmers for position. Eventually I decided just to back off and swim because I was expending too much energy. I ended up exiting 45second’s back from the leaders. Mistake number one of the day was relaxing and ending up in a second group.

I rode relatively smart trying not to get any penalties which was very tough with a big field on narrow flat roads. The chase pack that eventually formed was huge, there had to be 40 of us. I felt like for 2 hours I was often slowing down trying to not to get a penalty. I was in a chase pack but we were still riding very fast, it contained a lot of good athletes from different countries that have been top 10 here in the past or that have won 70.3 races this year. The pack had the likes of James Cotter, Richie Cunningham, James Hadley, Jeff Symonds, Renaldo Colluci and half way through the bike Oscar Galindaz and Chris Legh entered the group. Overall, the bike went well except I lost a bottle from the back of my bike and I dropped another at the last bottle drop forcing me to survive on one bottle. At the end of the bike I had started to get a headache and the temperature started to rise.

After a slow transition due to a lost bag I started to get in my rhythm. The run course was 2 loops which means I got to see spectators frequently which brought positive energy when I needed it most. I ended up running 1:17 and change for the half marathon putting me in 37^th place. With such a quick field there were easily 10 spots in front of me within 1 minute and another 10 spots right behind me. It was great to hear Alicia Kaye and all of the friends and coach’s I had watching and cheering. I gave it what I had on the day, but if I had swam 30 seconds faster the race could have been different.

A perfect summary of my 2009 season is illustrated in this Andre Agassi quote that I came across while reading his biography Open. To give a little context to this quote, Andre said this after losing the US Open when he was 15 years old. I still think he made $90 000 that year and bought himself a new Corvette. “Looking back it was good but not great. I see a gap between where I am and where I need to be, and I feel reasonably confident that I can close that gap.”

I would like to thank Dan Smith, Colonels Bikes, LifeSport, K-Swiss, AquaSphere, Path to Wellness, Frank@ PowerBar Canada, Ridglea Swimming and of course Carley and my parents for all of their support this season. I am super excited for 2010, however now its time to rest. I would like to congratulate all who raced on Saturday and to wish everyone a safe and healthy off-season.

Thanks for reading,

Brent

World Champs!

Saturday the race will have live coverage at http://www.ironmanlive.com/.
With 85 Pro Men on the start list it is going to be a very fast and exciting race. My bib # is 58. A special thanks to everyone who has supported me all season!

Longhorn 70.3 and Halloween

Exciting out of water at Austin 70.3.

Coming off the bike;

Out on the supposedly flat/fast run course.

Carley and I trying to enjoy Halloween. Unfortunately it was a sugar less, alcohol free Halloween as training was pretty heavy that weekend. I was supposed to be a rock star with my 5 dollar costume however rock stars do not go to bed at 9pm!

William and I ran into a Celebrity Costume, his swim cap even had Phelps on it!
I can't believe Clearwater 70.3 Championships are only 1 week away. It is going to be super fast so the next week i will be trying to rest up and stay sharp. Thanks to Nancy Glenn for sending me some photos from Longhorn 70.3.

Have a great weekend!

Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

On Sunday I raced the Longhorn 70.3 triathlon in Austin, Texas. Since a rough race at Muskoka 70.3 in August, I recently had a great block of training and therefore started to gain confidence leading into this race. However, I was still unsure of how the day would unfold as I had a pretty big week leading into the race as well as some hard days earlier in the week. Also, early in the week I had a hard time moving around and felt pretty sluggish, but I wanted to use this race to get back into the mix of things and put out a hard effort as part of my World 70.3 triathlon preparations. Friday I headed up with friend/training partner Dave McManic where we stayed with some others in a house. I tried to isolate myself from distractions and just focused on resting up for the 2 days prior to the race, as I was pretty fatigued.

At the same time I was very scared and nervous. Training had been going well and I had a lot of confidence from swim splits/power numbers/data from running and my power to weight ratio was up, however I questioned the following: What if I had a bad race? What if I was too tired from the previous block of training? No matter what happened my goal for the day was to have fun and put myself in the race and remain positive and focused.

For the start of the swim I positioned myself on the right side of the line with Sean Bechtel (Can), as I knew Sean was a good swimmer and was hoping for a good clean start. I am not sure it was the best tangential line to the first buoy but I figured it was lot easier than dealing with a lot of swinging arms. After the first turn I was easily in the lead group but going around the final turn into shore I seemed to be fighting with some other swimmers for position and a few of us fell off the pack as it got stretched out approaching the shore. I exited the water and sprinted up the hill and into transition. I knew I had a solid swim as I looked up and saw Greg Bennett (Aus) and Sean Bechtel peeling off their wetsuits. I had a good fast transition and hammered up the road putting myself into position passing a few people eventually forming into a group of 3-4 athletes. I could still see the lead vehicle and things were good, there was a pack of 4 up the road including Richie Cunningham (Aus), Luke Bell (AUS), and Brian Fleishman (USA,) and Greg Bennett. We were not too far back as I could still see them.

It seemed like I rode with Sean, Graham O’grady (NZL), Allessandro Desasperi most of the ride, however Maxim Krait and Massimo Cigna rode past us and our group was not able to ride with them, however by the end of the ride they were in sight again. After the 56 miles in which I was able to average 25.26mph I was sitting in 7th place, getting off my bike well before the dismount line to make sure that there was no chance of a penalty my shoe unclipped off my bike and I was forced to go back and get it. After picking up my shoe and running into transition Sean passed me and I worked hard to get my running shoes on fast and get out on the course. I re-passed Sean and started to really be aggressive early in the run to see if I could run into a top 5 placing knowing that the 6 guys ahead of me were a lot closer than they normally are at 70.3 races. Based on splits that were given I had anywhere from 1-3minutes for positions 1-6.

After running the first loop hard I could start to see some athletes up the road and I was getting fired up but I was definitely feeling my early efforts. I was still in 7th running hard and towards the second lap of the run Jeff Symonds from Canada passed me as I was starting to tire and after 2 laps I was in 8th but keeping Jeff within striking distance but he was running super fast. On the 3rd lap it started to go down hill, I kept pushing and pushing but my legs got so heavy and tired that my mind was trying but the legs were not producing. I went from running 5:30-5:40 miles on the hilly course to running well over 6 minute pace and it was getting ugly. I was not too far from the finish line but a big chase pack was slowly coming onto me and I did my best to hold some of them off but I still managed to be passed by Kirk Nelson, Patrick Evoe, Victor Zymetsev and another athlete. I tried to pick up my pace to catch Fraser Cartmell (Scotland) who I could see just before the finish line but I ran out of time.
I ended up finishing 12th in a competitive field with a 23:22 swim, 2:12:55 bike, and a 1:17:44 for 3:57:51. Even though I had a rough last lap of the run I still feel that I have gone up to a new level in fitness and I am starting to be in the mix of the race. This is exactly what I needed for a confidence booster. It was a great field in Austin with Ironman Florida, Arizona and Cozumel as well as a lot of talented athletes in the area preparing for the 2009 World Championship in Florida.

I would like to thank Colonel’s Bikes, Lifesport, Coach Dan Smith, K-SWISS Canada, Ridglea Swimming, Frank from Powerbar and all of my friends and training partners for pushing me to new levels. Also big thanks to William Ritter for letting me borrow his new ZIPP disc wheel. I hope to be providing some photos soon.

Next on the agenda is World Championship preparation. Carley is moving down to Texas to start a job this week, and I’m pretty stoked. I will definitely have some stories and pics to post about our adventures.

Thanks for reading, Brent

Next up Longhorn 70.3

Off to Austin tomorrow for Longhorn 70.3. Last year i was 19Th with a 4:09 with some bike issues and a pretty good size field. I have alot of confidence from the last few weeks of training and even though i am getting ready for Clearwater 70.3 in November i still feel the fitness is there. I could write a big blog post about the hard session's i have completed but what really matters is how the body responds and how i do on race day. Since it will be somewhat of a short drive/hard training race i have a few little goals but mostly to have fun and really put myself in the race with a hard effort.

After this race i will really be trying to sharpen up for that big day in November. Pictures and race report's to come next week. I want to wish everyone good luck who is racing on Sunday, and don't forget to stick around and get your picture taken with a Longhorn.

Texas and an Update

First off I must apologize for my lack of posts lately. Since Muskoka not too much has gone down that is not the usual training/recovering routine. However, in terms of geographical location, I'm currently back in Texas for the long haul. It's perfect timing too as football season is just kicking off and the boys seem to be off to a pretty good start to the season so that is exciting. You can't live in Texas with out being a football fan!

This past weekend I raced a local 26.5 mile TT in Glenrose Texas. It was called the Texas Time Trials and it was an extremly hilly windy loop. I had a bet with the race director that I could hold over 24 mph with the climbs. I got lucky and did. I backed up Sunday with a pretty solid Bike/Run session so training seems to be rolling along.

I'm pretty excited to be back in Texas as the weather in Canada has turned to Winter very quickly. Carley has been working like a madwomen getting all her certifications and paperwork in line in order for her to move down here as well. She will be here tomorrow for some interviews and then it looks like she'll be here for the long haul with me.

Other than that training has been going well. After my race in Muskoka, I was left with the eagerness and determination to complete another race before worlds in November. And there happens to a race very close to my new home in Texas, the Longhorn 70.3. So I plan on racing that in a few weeks and then focusing on World Championships in November.

Cheers,

Pictorial of Muskoka 70.3

En route to Muskoka,

We stayed at the Pow Wow Lodge resort on the other side of the lake from the Muskoka swim start. It was awesome! I even caught a boat ride across the lake in the morning, with the owner, as oppose to having to sit in the traffic, park and take the shuttle down. It was a definite benefit.

Exiting the swim. It was nearly a 250m run to transition area from the beach exit.

Starting the bike off in great position, less than 1 minute back.

Right before I got off the bike and also minutes before I received the penalty.

Starting the run after a 4 minute penalty and an extra 1 minute thinking I was serving the penalty in transition area.

Finishing the run, not too pleased but accepting.

On the golf course with Carley attempting to ease my mind from the race.

Lessons learned! Thanks for viewing.

Muskoka 70.3

Yesterday I raced Muskoka 70.3 triathlon and finished 11th. I was off to a good start during the swim in the lead group (I know this because I could see Craig Alexander's fancy wetsuit underwater) but falling off after the 3rd turn buoy. I am not sure what happened but a gap formed and I exited the swim 30-40seconds behind the leaders. Out on the bike I was in 6 or 7th place and rode down a couple people but was then again passed by some stronger athletes. Coming into transition area i was in 7th place just behind Andrew Russell who i just caught towards the end of the bike ride but he had gapped me into transition area. Going into transition i crossed the dismount line and received a 4 minute penalty. I started to wait it out with 3 officials in transition thinking I was serving my time while I made sure my shoes were nice and tight. Finally after what felt like 1.5 minutes an official piped up and said you better make your way to the penalty tent where your penalty will start. In the penalty tent I ran into Andrew Russell who was serving the same penalty. I was pretty mad because i thought i had already been serving it in the transition area and i further had to sit another 4 minutes. Also, this matter was never discussed at the pro meeting the day prior to the race and I have never seen such strict laws enforced about this violation. I watched a lot of athletes come and go through transition area and out onto the run course. I also felt my legs start to seize as I stood there. Upon exiting the penalty box, I made a big racing error of trying to run angry and after the first 5km's where i had been out in just over 16 minutes I started to fade as I had Wolfgang and Russell in sight. My fancy Garmin had me at 121 for my half split which was alright for a bad run but results had me over 126 meaning I lost around 5minutes in transition. I learned some important lessons which i will take into my next series of races. I made the best of the day and the situation. I am really looking forward to Clearwater and i need to remember that each race is going to provide an opportunity for race strategy and execution so i can get everything down for the big race in November. Overall, I think the best parts of yesterday were my great chat with Andrew Russell in the penalty box, who is a super nice guy, and my awesome 70.3 key chain Carley bought me from the expo during the race.

I would like to thank Aquasphere for providing me a great wetsuit and a great swim split, as well as Frank from Powerbar for keeping me fueled, as well as Tino from K-SWISS for outfitting me in great shoes that felt great yesterday. Also, Colonel's for providing me with a great bike, and of course LifeSport. It is now time to go golfing with Carley in hopes of keeping my mind off triathlon and the errors i made. I will post some photos from the race as soon as i have them.

Last Push!

The 6 x 1 miler! Thanks to Buddy Green for hittin' em with me.

Sad to see all the litter on the high school track!

Post workout capture!

The timer/runner for the last 2 laps when it gets hard!

A beautiful morning and a stellar hill for hill repeats! This is the steepest section, it curves slightly to the left at the top and continues for what seems like miles!

Hill-peats! And below Carley blasting the steep section!

The last Few days have been pretty hard but really fun. I have recruited some great training partners that are up for anything, and it has really helped with the last few hard days of training. Thanks to Mike Coughlin and Buddy Green for coming out. And Special thanks to Carley for timing me and doing some pretty hard workouts with me. Some good sessions of hard hill repeats that are almost 3/4's of a mile long and some hard mile repeats, as well as some hilly long runs. 2 more hard days and it will be time to get ready for Muskoka.
Have a great long weekend!

Preparation, Determination, Motivation!

First of all I would like to thank Lino Durante from Northern Sports in Timmins, ON and Frank Lucarelli from PowerBar Canada. Lino sent me the above Dopers Suck socks and Frank sent me the below PowerBar nutrition. Both will come in extremely handy while I prepare for Muskoka. These products will also help me stay motivated and determined!

Muskoka race preparation is going very well. I am super excited for next weekend. Below is a picture of me doing some over gear intervals early this afternoon.

I kept my Calgary race number in plain view on my bike to motivate me through these last challenging weeks before Muskoka.

After my session, it was time to cool off in the backyard lake.

I am currently on the last few pages of the novel Once a Runner by John Parker. It is truly an inspirational, motivated must-read athlete book. I have to admit that I have been on the last chapter for the past two days because I REALLY don't want the book to end. I have a good theory on how the book is going to end and I know it's going to be good so I'm saving it! I may finish it the night before Muskoka to further pump me up.

I have a pretty big week ahead, and I heard a rumour Mags was on the cover of Triathlon Canada mag so I"m off to Chapters to check it out!

Catch ya soon!

Local Veggies

Here are some pictures from Carley and I's veggie collection from the Sudbury Farmers Market. They have a Coop program there that sells local produce. So if your in the area check it out.

Training has been super tough, but boo-who right? Muskoka is just around the corner so i have 3 weeks to stay super focused, i need to redeem myself from my 6 place finish at Calgary 70.3 with the poor swim/bike i had. The last couple weeks i have found myself lying on the couch by 7:00pm reading, here are a few books i have read and that i really have enjoyed.

1. Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

2. In Defense of food by Michael Pollan

3. The 100 Mile Diet by Alisa Smith and Jb McKinnon

4. What to eat by Marion Nestle

I have learned alot of valuable information from these books but i am not going to start replacing powerbar's/powergels during training for anything i might find while i am out riding or running on trails. However i will start to really pay attention to what i am eating and where it is coming from as i feel being an athlete is more than just putting in the work. I think the healthier we can become with all of the choices that we must make day to day the better off we will be.

If you have some time to do some reading the books are great and if you have a chance to have an apple from a local farmers market you will see the difference. The weird thing was all of the fruits/Veggies were cheaper than the grocery store!

Triathlon Recovery News!

A little Latte News to make you SMILE!

Have a super Saturday night and a rockin' Sunday!

Facts not really worth knowing, yet staggeringly interesting!

-Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

-On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.

-American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.

-Not all Golf Balls have 360 dimples. There are some as high as 420. There are also all different kinds of dimple patterns.

-Olympic Badminton rules say that the birdie has to have exactly fourteen feathers.

-Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people

-A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!

-Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.

-Did you know you share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.

-Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice as much as to any other color.

-If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

-Hot water is heavier than cold.

On the Lighter Side

A guy shows up late for work. The boss yells "You should have been here at 8:30!" he replies: "Why? What happened at 8:30?"

-Two snowmen are standing in a field. One says to the other : "Funny, I smell carrots too".

-For every mile you jog, you add one minute to your life. This enables you, at the age of 85, to spend an additional five months in a nursing home at $5,000/month.

You know you are a triathlete when ... this post explains it!

Off to bed,

Cheers!

This sort of describes my last two weeks. Off for an ice bath now! I will hopefully give a better update on things soon, but for now its swim,bike,run, nap, stretch, ice bath, epsonsalt. On a good note i just had a 50watt increase in power for a cycling Time Trial. Things are coming along but i am going to remain in the pain cave to get ready for Muskoka.

Pictures from Calgary 70.3

Below are some pictures Carley took during the race. On Monday, Carley's brother Ryan took us to Banff and we hiked a 13 km roundtrip mountain, called Sulphur mountain. I also have to thank Ryan for letting me crash at his house while he worked like a madman all week. If any athlete ever needs a hip or knee replacement from all those miles logged, go and see Dr. Ryan he's the best and coolest Orthopedic Surgeon around. Thanks again Ryan and Barb, I hope I didn't make too much of a mess!

Calgary 70.3

Racing at 3500Ft is challenging, especially when coming off a half Ironman 3 weeks ago and a two week training camp in beautiful Victoria.
The Viterra Ironman 70.3 in Calgary was an amazing course with great organizers and i am already excited to toe the line next year.
I wished i had a little more altitude training before i arrived especially with the large group of athletes from Boulder coming but everything worked out fine. I had a sub par swim exciting pretty far back from the main contenders(*i could hardly breath), however i managed to stay in the mix on the bike/run to finish 6th overall and top Canadian.
I qualified for World 70.3 Triathlon Championships in November so i can now concentrate on doing well there. As soon as Carley downloads some photos i will post some great photos. I want to thank my great training partners, sponsors and the coachs at Lifesport for getting us all ready for the great showings we had.

More Fun!

Justin and I on a 3hour recovery ride!

Swim Workout in New Aqua Sphere wetsuit, its fast!

Amazing Views!

Deer hanging out at Melanie Mcquaid's house!

A little bit of a late blog post. Training in Victoria has been going great, we are all a bit tired from last week but the group is doing well.

Here is a bit of a breakdown of what we have been up to this week. The weekend ahead will be very challenging but after that it will be time for some rest.

Monday- Recovery Swim

Tuesday- Hard Swim Session with Clint's group with 25x100/ 3hour recovery ride/30minute easy run.

Wednesday- 10k Tempo Run of Elk Lake building the effort. I ran okay but Justin ran fast. / Swim Workout at Lunch/2hour ride with some hill repeats at Observatory.

Thursday- Swim with Clint's group with some hard 400m efforts/3.75hour ride with alot of hard riding, i tried to attack a few times on Justin on Durrance and Muns road. I think everyone has been watching too much tour DE France coverage. Off the bike we ran 75 minutes! Epson Salt and Ice baths have been a regular thing this week.

Today- A hard swims session at Thetis lake!

Well its time to watch the tour and talk to Carley.
Tune in Thursday, August 6th to Rogers Sportsnet at 7pm (Pacific) for the airing of the Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon.

The Return of Super Saturday Suffer Sunday!

Everything in Victoria is awesome, except how my legs are feeling. Doug and Cathy Noel(home stays) have been wonderful hosting me for the camp and i am very grateful.

Saturday morning the workload and the half ironman started to catch up to me and i felt pretty tired. Luckily we had a run workout that was 6x1mile on 6:10, my first mile was okay 4:56 allowing me to get some rest but after that i felt like i was at a learn to run clinic. Simon, Adam, JP and AMac ran well and i was trying to keep a good honest effort. After the run session it was off to get some work done on the bike. Lance's 13minute time trial loop ended up being 13kms of hills so we did a 26km TT( i felt awesome) but after that we hit the observatory for 5 repeats. The climb is around 7minutes or so, thanks to Simon and Adam for setting a good strong pace to keep me working hard. I felt mangled after that ride but Justin and i still had a good strong run off the bike.
Sunday morning i felt like someone hit me with a bat all over. We started off Suffer Sunday with a 20mile run, i knew i was starting to get tired because i tripped over a stump trying to run around a group in Mt. Doug, no major damage but a swollen knee and elbow. After the run we hit the lake for a swim session, followed by another run.

Today started another big week in Victoria with an ice bath and a swim session. I still feel a bit rough but i hope it gets better. It's absoultly beautiful here in Victoria and i will try to take some scenic pictures on our next recovery ride.

Training Camp Update

Things have been going relatively well here in Victoria. Training has been pretty tough for a week after the half ironman on Sunday. The weather has been great and the energy out of the group has been amazing.
Monday was a pretty good recovery day with icing and a swim session at the lake. Tuesday was a some what of a recovery day with a 1hour run, 2hour ride, and a hard 5k swim session at the pool. Wednesday was a 2.5hour ride with a bunch of hill intervals and over gear work, a hard swim session at durance lake and a base run around elk lake. Yesterday was sort of an Uber day with a hard swim session in the morning (*8x50m start speed on 1min, 4x100m @racepace, 400m steady)x3, then Justin and i road 5hours with Simon Whitfield, Geoff Kabush, Max Plaxton. After the 5 hour ride we ran around the lake with some intervals. So 7.5hours of training and i was smashed.
Today we had a pretty hard swim session out at Thetis Lake and the afternoon is rest to get ready for the weekend ahead. Time to rest up:)

Race Update

Vancouver 1/2 Iron has come and gone. I took some risks and came 6Th (4:08). I could have played it safe but i wanted to lead the swim and work the first few loops of the bike trying to hold off a chase group and limit the time the leader was putting on me. I wanted to test my self and a test i got. My body has been a little bit tired from all of the racing but i wanted to make sure i had a good swim and a good bike to set myself up for some fast 70.3 racing coming up soon.

It was great too see some athletes that i haven't seen in a while and Jorden Rapp had a great race. I will try to blog the t.v showings of the race. The lifesport gang did awesome, and Subaru was amazing providing us with Vehicles. I would like to thank the Ladner family for hosting me in Vancouver it was a great experience.

Our team has a training camp over in Victoria starting today. The first day was pretty easy with a swim at the lake and a recovery session at Pacific Institute of Sports Technology. Tomorrow we will start hitting it again, so i will try to update a little more regularly with adventures.

Also, I would like to thank Carley for taking the time to give my blog a fresh new look! It looks great, I owe you one (realistically I probably owe you about 1000)!

Vancouver

Tomorrow i am off to Vancouver, followed by a training camp in Victoria for 2 weeks and finishing up the trip with Calgary 70.3. I have some passport problems that i need to figure out, and this past week has been crazing trying to convince the Canadian Embassy that i am Canadian and that i need to be able to leave Texas this Friday.
The funny thing is when i went to photocopy some information for the Embassy i left my drivers licence and my social insurance card in the copier. So enough said and i have had some interesting issues. Carley Got me a fanny pack to wear on my waist so i don't lose everything i own. Its not very stylish but i think it will do the trick! I now have a new/old camera of Carleys so i will try and post some pictures of the amazing scenery and crazy adventures when i arrive.






Vancouver Playing Host to Top International Ironman Athletes‏"Olympic Battle" Pits Winter Versus Summer Olympians
Jul 08, 2009
This Sunday marks the third year of the Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon. The event, held at the beautiful Spanish Banks and University of British Columbia Endowment Lands, will host a record 600 professional and amateur athletes from 8 different countries racing either the half ironman distance (2 km swim, 90 km bike and 20 km run) or the shorter sprint event. Some of these athletes may be racing for the first time while others use the race as preparation for Ironman Canada or the legendary Ironman Hawaii. With the pro prize purse being $10,000, and the race being nationally televised on Rogers Sportsnet, the event has attracted a number of top international stars.
Returning to fight for the title are 2008�s defending champions and Canadians Jasper Blake and Cheryl Murphy. Blake�s competition this year will consist of five-time international Ironman Champion Jason Shortis of Australia, and top Ironman 70.3 pro�s Brent Poulsen (CAN), Jordan Rapp (US), and Justin Park (US). In the women�s race, Murphy will compete against Canadian favourite Magali Tisseyre, who holds the worlds fastest women�s half ironman time in the world this year, Linsey Corbin (US), top North American finisher at last years Hawaii Ironman (5th), Bree Wee (US), who was in the lead in last year�s race before going off course and falling two spots, and local Rachel Keirs, who narrowly missed the win with a 2nd place after a sprint finish.
To add to the excitement of the upcoming 2010 Olympics, the Vancouver event will host a fun �Olympic Battle,� where a team of 2010 winter Olympians will compete against three teams of summer Olympians in a Sprint distance relay. The 2010 team members include snowboarder, Derek Wintermans, Team Canada bobsledder, Danaka Porter and biathlete, Jessica Sedlock. Summer Olympians participating include swimmers Kelly Stefanyshyn and Mark Johnston, windsurfer and sailor, Nikola Girke, �Men�s 8 Gold Medal Rowers� team with Ben Rutledge as captain, and 2008 �Rockin� Olympic Rower Chicks� led by Darcy Marquardt.
A press conference featuring many of these athletes will be held at 2pm on Friday, July 10th at the Cascadia Hotel and Suites.
Live timing results will be available on race day at www.triseries.ca.
For more information please visit www.triseries.ca or contact Shantel Cordeiro at Shantel@triseries.ca or call 250-858-0174
More News

Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon

LifeSport Pros Ready For Subaru Vancouver TriathlonAge Group Race Filling Quickly
The LifeSport pro team will be full force at the upcoming Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon on July 12th.
LifeSport Pro women include Montana’s Linsey Corbin, the top North American finisher at last year’s Hawaii Ironman, Quebec’s Magali Tisseyre who last week in Boise set the fastest woman’s Ironman 70.3 time in the world this year, Hawaii’s Bree Wee – the all-time amateur course record holder at the Hawaii Ironman, and Haley Cooper (US) coming off a recent 4th place pro finish at Ironman Coeur D’Alene.
On the men’s side, Canada’s Brent Poulsen will race alongside teammate American Justin Park.
The LifeSport pros will be up against a strong international field including Ironman Champion Jason Shortis of Australia, defending Vancouver and Ironman Canada Champion Jasper Blake, and 2008 Subaru Shawnigan Lake Champion Jordan Rapp of the US. The women’s side will include defending Champion Cheryl Murphy along with local favorite and last year’s runner up Rachel Kiers.
The team is looking forward to race along the scenic Spanish Banks and UBC Endowment lands while being filmed for a 1 hour national feature of the race on Rogers Sportsnet.
The pro’s aren’t the only one looking forward to this event. So far, over 500 participants are registered in the half iron, sprint, and relay divisions, and have a number of things to look forward to. Not only getting to race with the Pro’s in the same start wave, and feeling the excitement of TV camera’s on the course, but all finishers of the Half will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a VIP trip to Kona for the Ironman Hawaii World Championships this fall.
Another exciting feature in the 2009 event is the “Olympic Battle”. This fun battle consists of sprint relay team of winter Olympians versus a team of summer Olympians. Some of the team members include Darcy Marquardt, Beijing Olympian, and her team of “Rockin’ Olympic Rower Chicks", Gold medallist Ben Rutledge and potential winter Olympians, Derek Wintermans, snow boarder, and Danaka Porter, Bob sleigh.
For more information or to register click here

Wet Race in Lubbuck, Happy Birthday Carley

Finished 9th Pro @ Buffalosprings 70.3, I think i left my cycling legs in Kansas.

I had a great swim coming out in 4th or 5th with Brandon Marsh about 1minute down to a couple of people of the front. i couldn't get things going on the bike and the pouring rain and high winds made me really nervous and i lost a lot of time. I did what i could on run, but a pretty miserable day with the weather. Today is Carley's birthday and i can hardly walk, although i have spent countless hours walking at 6flags in 95degree weather.

I got Carley a new Camera for her birthday, she is sort of a camera junkie. More pics of all the adventures from Lubbock to come.

Melting in Texas

On Sunday it will be my 3rd time racing Buffalo springs 70.3, i have been 9,10th two years doing the race. I think i am recovered from Kansas and ready to rock but time will tell.
A quick shout out to Kristen @ http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/ for sending me a wetsuit, thank you! i hope it isn't a wetsuit swim, because right now in Texas it is 97degrees feels like "don't leave anything in your car or it will melt." 108. I have been struggling with wetsuit swims so i am hoping the water is warm. It looks like a good field racing, so i am excited :)

I would also like to thank Tim Tarpley for helping out with massage, and the guys at Colonels for putting up with me showing up last minute. Its Carleys birthday on Monday and i still don't have an idea what to get her. I am sure a trip to six flags in 100degree weather will be awesome to recover from the race.
Ironmanlive.com should have live results. #33

Stay Cool!

Great weekend of training, off to Lubbuck for Buffalo springs 70.3 later in the week. Carley and i started watching Dexter. Were addicted to the series already.

Kansas Recovery

Recovering from Kansas! 1$ dollar hot dogs at the Rangers Game. The new Cowboys Stadium looks awesome in the pic above.

Training has been light the past few days so i have been trying to log some hours at work.
I hope watching Baseball isn't as bad as watching a triathlon.