Licking My Wounds

Well, getting blown away was a good motivator for the next couple of months to get in gear and train hard. I had a great trip to California and had an amazing homestay which i will talk about later on in this report. To break down a short and sweet race report, after fighting a cold the last two weeks, my respiratory system was suffering out there. First Open water swim of the year was rough, my siting was horrible and went off course a few times when i thought i was in good positioning, the no warmup and 50degree temperatures didnt help me. Getting out of the water coming around the corner off the ramp, i slipped and took 3 guys out with me, my head still hurts from that bail but luckily my wetsuit cushioned most of the fall. Getting on to the bike, some more rust came out going down and losing my shoe, it was very embarrasing having a spectator handing my shoe back to me, so i had to put one shoe on hope on the bike and continue riding. At this point it was a rough start and i hammered the first 30miles not loosing much time to fellow competitors actually riding in a few groups, i started to hit the wall when Steve Larson passed me but i held him off for 30miles or so, so he put a huge amount of time on me on the second half of the bike portion. So me holding him off that long i knew i was riding very strong the first half of the ride. The second half of the bike was extremely hilly and windy and i got dropped riding wiht a pack i was with and my motivation was a bit down. Riding up a monsterous climb and getting drop sucks, the worst part was i was weezzing and coafing and i had guys turning around to look back and see if there was someone dying at the back of the group, pretty embarassing. Losing 10mins soft pedaling/ cursing at my self, i came in off the bike. But i know i have to work on my cycling so it is what it is. Getting off the bike i ran a slow half marathon more for survival but later on finding out that my jogg survival pace was a 122 half, i kind of wished i hadnt cracked so i could have let it rip and seen what i could have ran. I walk away from the race with a great start to the season, it isnt on paper but alot of good things happened. I swam half decent for my first openwater cold swim, i was able to ride the same pace as the leaders for 35miles or so, even with some transition area problems. And my run is going well, because my 155hrt jogg survival half marathon was 122 not the 145-or 2hours it felt like. I have a lot of work to do on the bike to make sure i am ready for the season but its early and it is what it is. I think i was 30th or something and 4:23, not good but respectable for being sick and early season. NO excuses though, it is what it is and i am stronger today for finishing and not throwing in the towel.

Now back to the best part of the trip, my homestays. David and Kelly Rideout where amazing, and the odds of me landing them as a homestay was incredible. After establishing that i was from Canada not Kentucky or Kansis, we started to talk and they asked me if i knew Mike Hay and Dave Harju, and we had some great stories and it is a small world. Then they told me about Jocelyn and Jullien some Canadians they hosted for an ITU race a while back, and yup i knew them and had some funny stories. David is getting ready for a bike Timetrial across the USA and has been racing triathlons far before i was born. It was one of the healthiest families i have ever met, Kelly raced marathons and there daughters did triathlons and it was really motivating to see such a healthy and fit family. The whole time i was there i was treated like i was one of there own, and this is truely incredible because everytime i took a bite of food, something hit the floor and Kelly didnt loose her cool once, i for sure thought i was going to be sleeping out with the dogs after a few occassions. They were truely amazing, and next year i would like to be alot fitter and prepared when i go back. Andrew was another athlete staying with his wife Mary. They were wicked cool and Andrew is the guy from the power bar ads in about every magaizine for the last year, i knew i recognized him from somewhere, and Mary was a very fast marathon runner who was in a crash and had a cast on her foot. We tried not to talk about running because she isnt able to go to trials because of the cast.

If i had to highlight my trip it was the Rideout's and there great hospitality, even though i was down from the race i had a great time, and my first trip to In and out burgers on sunday was unreal. This burger chain in southern cali was so cool. Next year i hope to return as long as they enjoyed my stay, i was a bit messy but i hope i wasnt too big of pain. Anyways i am pretty sore, from the wetsuit, the falls, the hills the winds and the slow half marathon, but i am stronger and roaring to go. The next few months i will be JFCing to make sure i am ready to ride, the picture from above, is part of the sleeping Indian, my new hilly secret training location. It was a great race with Andy and Crowie, and i was especially empressed with Brandon Marshes Race, he had a great race. After writing this blog i am starting to go through Cali withdrawls, pretty sad.

Thanks for reading,

Thanks for reading.