Tennis is a sport I will never understand...

Apparently not a problem for this guy!! Thanks to A-Russ for posting!

NB 1/2 Iron Relay Hilarity

Yesterday was the 15th annual New Balance Half-Iron at Elk lake, and a great day was had by all!!

As I am still struggling with my shins and a serious lack of running, I was racing the relay with my roommate Myke! As per the pattern for my season, I was doing the swim and the bike while Myke was brining it home with the run.

My portion of the race started of pretty well. I got a much smother start to the swim then I usually do. I was able to hang on to the leaders feet until right around the first buoy, at which point they slowly started to pull off into the distance. I settled in to a good rhythm though and came out of the water feeling strong.

The bike was great!. Noa and I had discussed a couple of key points coming out of Shawnigan including bringing my cadence down from my normal hill crushing 105-110 to a more maintainable 85-90, and adjusting my pre-race nutrition. Keeping to the plan kept me feeling strong and hammering hard right to the end. My bike time was right on par with the leaders, so I managed to get Myke into a good position for the run.

Here are a couple pics from the bike, Thanks to Mari and Adam!

Myke pulled out a great run, and brought us home in a very respectable fashion. We had been hoping to repeat my win in Shawnigan but in the end we were cleanly beaten by some seriously strong teams and finished 2nd overall in the men's relay division. So my goal for the west coast series goes from four wins to four podiums, but I'm still really happy with the day ;)

A huge congratulations goes out to Adam O'Meara for pulling out his first win! He is one of the most dedicated athletes I know, and truly deserves his success!

Thank you to all the Volunteers who were helping out on the weekend, and all the organizers for a great race!

What happens when training gets boring

I bet this guy doesn't worry about traffic to much...

A weekend in Wasa

I have been feeling a little antsy lately so I decided to accompany Leif and Kamal up to Cranbrook last weekend for the Wasa Lake Triathlon. The trip served two purposes, first it gave me a chance to get out of Vic and get a little variety in my training, but mostly it was an opportunity to share a trip with some good friends and support my teammates!

The weekend couldn't have been better. Seeing as I was just there to train and watch the race, I was able to relax and enjoy the fantastic 30 degree weather (a nice change from the "summer" here in Vic).

A wonderful Morning for a race!

Kamal in a great mood before the race

Sprint Start

At the end of the day Victoria a athletes faired well, with Leif posting the run of his life and a top ten finnish! Unfortunately, Kamal wasn't in quite as good a mood after the race. I was able to get some great training in, with a couple nice open water swims at the race site, and some good rides around the area.

I wish I could say I was impressed with the race, but other than the fantastic location I didn't find it to be very well organized. I would be interested to know why the RD made some of the decisions he made regarding transition set up and scheduling, but I don't think Wasa will be a race I will be making the trip for again.

I'm a movie star!!

and by star, I mean you might see me flash by the camera for about half a micro-secound!

Through the bike shop grape vine I heard about an opportunity to make a little money for once!

The new lifetime movie "Bond of Silence" was in Victoria and they were looking for cyclists to stage a bike race scene. They were offering a days worth of free food and a little cash so I decided to check it out.

It ended up being a pretty fun day, lots of familiar faces from around the biking community. The work was simple enough, they just had us riding our bikes around getting shots of group riding and a "finishing sprint". Of course they chose the one rainy day in the middle of our sunny streak, but it actually worked out pretty well for them since it was supposed to be December in California!

Overall it was an interesting experience to see the movies from the other side of the screen. Lots of hard work goes into making even the smallest scene. The crew is impressive to watch, turning downtown Vic in summer to a Christmas scene in California in a couple hours!

A cold day at Shawnigan...

Overall it was a good day to be alive at Shawnigan lake on Sunday!

The Howitzer blast tore through the morning stillness, jolting hearts and minds, and starting the Shawnigan lake half-iron. For me it was also the one year anniversary of my start in long distance tri (and what an amazing year it has been!).

As per the plan, I was racing the swim and the bike portions for team PT Performance. A very nice woman named Karen came on at the last minute and filled in the run, so my job for the day was to come off the bike in good position for Karen to run it home!

The swim got off to a bit of a rocky start. I am still not strong or aggressive enough to really fight for position in the initial blender of human bodies, so I was pushed off my ideal line for the first couple hundred meters. I settled into a good rhythm though, and was able to bridge up to the group in front of me. I came out of the water leading the second pack, just a couple minutes behind the leaders! Overall I am really happy with my swim, I think my pacing was bang on and I think it was a great start to the season!

The bike was not the smoothest of my life. The cold water/air lead to stiff/numb hands and feet, making it all but impossible to get my shoes on. About halfway through the first lap my breakfast decided it didn't really feel like staying in my stomach anymore, and I spent the next 1.5 laps in an epic battle with my gag reflex trying to talk it into sticking around. The end result of this struggle was complete lack of nutrition for the first half of the bike! I was still setting a good pace for the first three laps though and managed to maintain my position despite hitting a bit of a wall going into the last 20km.

At the end of the day I managed to get the job done, coming off the bike in 6th overall and leading the relay teams, giving Karen a bit of head start on the run. Karen ran a FANTASTIC 1:32:00ish to maintain our lead, and it was two tired but smiling faces high fiving at the finish line!

I am really happy with the race overall. I feel like it has given me a good step to carry forward with the rest of the season!

The PT crew was out in strength, lead on by a course record run and strong finish by Adam!

Congrats to all the other competitors, it was a cold, hard day for everyone!

Finally a big thank you to all the volunteers, without you non of it is possible!

My two cents...

This issue has been passed around a lot over the last six months or so, but it seems to keep popping up. Other than ranting with training partners (Moka house has debates that rival parliament!), or the odd comment supporting what others have said, I usually stay relatively silent in these instances. Mostly because I don't consider myself a good enough writer to construct a decent argument.

The problem being athletes portraying themselves as something they are not, possibly taking support and recognition away from others. Noa Deutsch has already commented on this and her post is a much more concise and well written version of my opinion. I highly recommend reading her post.

I would simply like to say that during my short time in triathlon I have had the opportunity to train with (and around) athletes that embody the pure ideals that athletics strive to instill within society. Whether they are Pro, elite, or age-grouper, they show up to training and work hard everyday because it is what they love to do. They set goals that are realistic (although sometimes lofty ;) for them and take pride in reaching them. When not racing they take pride in sanding on the side lines and cheering their training partners, finding joy in seeing their friends succeed.

As a grassroots athlete that has received a lot of support (see my wonderful sponsors) my issue is not with "lower" level athletes receiving support. There are many athletes that get support because of the work they do in their community, and there are many companies that have grassroots programs. I take issue when an athlete misrepresents himself to his sponsors and community at large. When someone make false claims it not only discredits themselves, but damages the sport as a whole.

I can only hope that hard work, honesty, and integrity will win out in the end and people that deserve support are not hurt by the dishonesty of others.

I have dedicated my life to sport education because I believe it is the best way to teach the values that society builds upon. Thank you to all the fantastic athletes that continue to present themselves in a manner that makes me proud to be involved in sport (even in my small way)!