Category: triathlon

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Looking Back on 2012: New Weight Categories

Earlier this year, the esteemable Swim Bike Mom helped draw my attention to the new rules for the weight categories (as dictated by the USA Triathlon).  As of 2013, Men weighing over 220 lbs could compete under a separate category ‘Clydesdales’ while women over 165 lbs could choose to compete as ‘Athenas’.  The old weight limits for these categories were 200 and 150 lbs respectively.

The purpose of these weight categories was to acknowledge that regardless of individual fitness, some people just don’t have the build to finish with times comparable to elites (even within age groups), and they should be recognized for their achievements relative to others with similar builds.  Which I found to be a noble sentiment.

Jan Frodeno in front; Simon Whitfield behind.  2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

I’m just  “a few donuts away” from the old Clydesdale limit (in fact, thanks to the holidays, if they held a triathlon today, I could jump right in).  Yet, I never felt that tempted to enrol as one.  Regardless of how much I’m carrying around the middle, my build skeleton isn’t the one of a typical runner/triathlete; I’m broader in the shoulders for one thing.  Still, look at the difference between a Jan Frodeno and Simon Whitfield.  Frodeno’s a bigger guy too.


That’s probably a reasonable comparison to my build (minus plenty of body fat, of course), and Frodeno didn’t need a different weight class; he won the Gold!  The Clydesdale weight class should be more for men built like linebackers, and I think the 220 lb limit is more in line with that.  It could even be increased from my point of view.

Competing in these weight classes enables people to get a little closer to the top ten (albeit an arbitrary one) or even a podium spot.  That’s not really why I participate in triathlon though, and I doubt I’m alone in this sentiment.  I’ll be leaving the Clydesdale category alone; the donuts will have to wait.  Well, maybe just one…

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TRX With Ignition Fitness

I was really excited to find out that Ignition Fitness was offering TRX Classes for Runners and Triathletes:


  1. I always wanted to try TRX – being suspended promotes using the core and all kinds of stabilizer muscles in way that promotes functional strength, which is what I want to build.
  2. I know a lot of elite triathletes have been using TRX in their training, so again, that puts it right up my alley.
  3. These workouts are specifically designed for runners and triathletes!
  4. The classes are available on a drop in basis, and (like drugs, software and martial arts classes) the first one is free!


I had got in touch with Tommy Ferris, the head coach of Ignition and signed up for a session on a Thursday night.  Due to cold and flu season and its effect on the whole family, I had to cancel at least once, but this past week, I was able make it to Dragon Fitness, where they’re holding the classes.   It’s located in an industrial space in a semi-sketchy area north of Parkdale (technically Brockton Village apparently); but I’m somewhat familiar with the area as the place where I used to train in Jiu-Jitsu was nearby, so I felt a little more comfortable than I might have otherwise.

After entering and greeting one of the owners of Dragon Fitness, I met Tommy Ferris himself.  He explained that there had been some cancellations, and as it turned out, I would be the only one in class that day.  More individual attention for me!  

This meant he had lots of time to get me oriented with the equipment.  In addition to a dry run with all the exercises in the circuit, I also had a chance to practice reconfiguring the suspension straps for maximum or minimum length, depending on what was called for in the exercise.  Two other skills I learned were how to combine the handles for a single gripping point, and how to put them on my feet for exercises where our hands would be on the ground.  That was one that I struggled to do while hurrying through the circuit.  Here’s how the circuit was structured:

TRX exercise Non-TRX exercise
Squat Kettlebell ‘Romanian Deadlift’ (two handed swing)
Core Twist

 Plank
Ts/Is Alternating Pushups
Mountain Climbers Running Arms
Pikes Jump Lunges
Sprinters Lunges Lateral Jumps
Body Saw Matrix Jumps
Each station was 45 seconds, and we moved from TRX  exercise to non-TRX exercise (left column, right column) without stopping.  At the end of the circuit, we rested 45 seconds, then did it over again for a 30 minute workout.  Here are some notes and illustrative pics (from the Ignition Fitness website) on the individual exercises.

  • Squat.  A body-weight/air squat, getting down to where the thighs are at least parallel to the floor.  You hold onto the TRX handles, but more for a balance reference point than anything else.
  • Kettlebell ‘Romanian Deadlift’  – To me, this looked like the regular Kettlebell swings you see people do… the weights were gripped two-handed, and the emphasis was on getting the hips back on the negative phase (lowering the bell) while snapping the pelvis forward (back to a neutral standing position) on the upward swing of the bell.  I have yet to understand why you need Kettlebells to do these kinds of exercises… you could do them with dumbbells in my opinion.
  • Torso Twist – This one was great for working oblique core muscles which should be recruited during the swim.  Most of the exercises were selected for the role they could play in improving performance on the swim, bike or run.

  • Plank – You know what this is, right?  45 seconds worth.  Not easy, but at least a change of pace from the more dynamic exercises that preceded it.
  • T’s or I’s.  The first circuit involved pulling ourselves toward the straps’ anchor point using a reverse shoulder fly with arms stretched out horizontally (so that we formed a ‘T’).  And the next circuit involved pulling the handles overhead so that the arms ended above (and the body forms an ‘I’).  Great for core and shoulders, especially to level off imbalances that would be common for runners and triathletes.
  • Alternating push-ups.  A regular push-up, a wide push-up to the right, a wide push-up to the left.  Tough to finish, not exciting.
  • Mountain Climbers – A common exercise where the TRX adds another dimension.  It was crucial to not have the legs go up and down too much or else the straps would ‘see-saw’ through the anchor point, making an annoying noise.  When the feet were kept more-or-less level, the core was better engaged.

  • Running Arms – Loved this one, and not just because it was a little less demanding than most stations.  Keeping our elbows bent at 90 degrees, we swung our arms as if we were running while holding 10lb dumbbells (a little on the heavy side for this movement, but it worked) while keeping our upper and lower bodies still.  It took more core strength than you might have thought.



  • Pikes – These were really hard.  On the second circuit, I was bending my knees into more of a tuck motion than a pike, and I needed a break or two.  Ideally, you should ‘rest’ with only a plank position, but I couldn’t even manage that.

  • Jump Lunges – Another great runner’s exercise that I’ve always struggled with, at least, to keep them up beyond 30 seconds.  I did them body weight only, because I knew I’d be gassed before 45 seconds were up.
  • Sprinter’s Lunges – I found these fascinating, because they mimic the explosive spring that sprinters have to cultivate, especially for the start, but the muscles are important for every stride.  They look bad, since the knee is past (in front of) the toe, but remember, the weight/load is reduced because the straps are takings some.  You spring up and swing the knee forward, then do the other leg.
  • Lateral Jumps – This one saw us jumping from one side to the other, in a kind of lunge.  The rear foot would cross behind the front leg (which had a nice deep knee bend) resulting in a dynamic hip stretch.  The side to side motion was reminiscent of skating, if you ask me, but with a deeper bend to get more quad and glute work.
  • Body Saw – This one was a favourite.  Once in a plank (elbows on ground, feet in the TRX straps), we’d simply rock back and forth a little.  Ideally we’d keep our heads up looking forward as if we were in aero position on the bike.
  • Matrix Jumps –  Imagine a dial pad; stand on one leg, on the ‘5’ and jump to each button, then back to the ‘5’.  Once (1,5,2,5,3,5,4,5,6,5,7,5,8,5,9,5) then the other way around.  Switch legs

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All the exercises had elements that were familiar in terms of motion so they didn’t feel to foreign to me, yet they all had a new dimension that challenged.  Shoulders, core, glutes, hamstrings and other leg muscles are all part of a triathlete’s aresenal so it was great to work them all out in a short, efficient time span.  Furthermore, our whole bodies were being put through motion in 3 different planes: front-to-back (which is the most common dimension for runners and triathletes) as well as side-to-side and up-and-down (which are more neglected).

There’s lots more great information and advice on Ignition Fitness’ website; I’d encourage anyone to give this class a try.  

Have you ever tried TRX?

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New Horizons and Straight Talk

I turned 39 this year, and next year I’ll be racing in the 40-45 age category; since triathlon rules will be deeming me a 40 year-old, I thought I might give myself a 40th birthday present and sign-up for a half-Ironman.  You know, take things to the next level.  In triathlon training though, you always need the support of your partner, and when the training volume increases and longer runs/rides start cropping up, this is even more true, so I approached my wife with the idea.

She is supportive, especially when she knows it’s something I really want, but she asked me a straightforward question: With the way things are with the kids, do you see yourself being able to train for a half-Ironman in the coming year.  That stopped me in my tracks.  That past week, the kids had been sleeping well, and showing a lot of development so I think I had projected that into less dependence on me as their parent, and got all caught up in my own ambition.  You see, my wife knows me better than most, and she’s seen me get disappointed before; I don’t always take things in stride, and tend to blame myself in a somewhat destructive pattern.  Goals are important, but the best goals are realistic and measurable and all that, so some good straight-talk is worth a million ‘rah-rah! you can do it!’s.  Still when presented with an either-or ultimatum, the Iron Rogue way is to take a third option.


So many of my favourite bloggers (including, but not limited to Fit2Flex, Healthy Tipping Point, Fit Mom…In Training) have been training for or completing half-marathons that I couldn’t help but catch that fever.  I figured (and my wife agrees) that stepping up my running endurance would be a good pilot project to see what our life can handle in terms of training volume.  When I saw that Fitness Cheerleader was signing up for the Burlington Chilly Half-Marathon, I had my inspiration –  I signed up! I’ve already gone on some longer (for me) runs with the Lightning Kid in the Chariot, and I hope to increase running volume all the way to Christmas.





After that, I’ll need to adopt (at least semi-formally) a training program; I’d prefer one that is heavy on the cross-training which not only aids my triathlon ambitions, but fits my ‘Fitness ADHD’ personality… which also has me interested in trying new classes and programs for increased strength.  Overall, it’s an exciting time, a season to look to new horizons; I don’t see any reason to wait until the new year.  Stay tuned to the blog for new adventures….


Epilogue: Since having that conversation with my wife, we’ve gone through several nights of less than 3 hours sleep due to the Lightning Kid’s teething (not to mention when Shark Boy wakes up too), as well as a daytime visit to the Hospital for Sick Children minor surgery to put tubes in his ears.  I think I have a pulled core muscle of some kind and an eye infection, and there seems to be an inordinate amount of coughing and sniffling going on in the Iron Rogue Den of Iniquity household.  The chaotic elements in our lives reared their heads again, and the decision to make smaller, subtler changes to my training regimen appears to have been the right one.

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Bracebridge Tri Preview

The (Recharge With Milk) MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series is hosting Sprint and Olympic Distance Duathlon and Triathlons this weekend.  I’m signed up for the Olympic, as indicated in the good old Race Calendar.  This series has been constantly evolving and improving, so it’s not just the promise of Chocolate Milk and Hero Burgers that entices me.

Bracebridge used to be the home of a half-Iron distance event, but it seems like that’s gone this year.  Still the venue is in Muskoka and I’ve been interested in doing this one for years.  I haven’t had enough time to really improve performance since Muskoka 5150, and I expect this to be challenging so I don’t have much in the way of expectation or strategy going into this one, I’m just there to enjoy myself.  Let’s look at the different stages…

Swim

The Muskoka River being used for the swim course is going to guarantee some current to slow us down, but at least the course is simple.  It’s a single loop which is always good, having different people either exiting or continuing on a swim course always creates chaos.  What intrigues me most is the start; they’re going to release a swimmer every 5 seconds… can’t wait to see how that works out.

Bike


In sharp contrast to the swim, the bike course looks complicated.  Just after 10km there’s a hairpin turn.  Then after the 20km mark is a small loop for the first out and back segment.  After that, you don’t take the same way home, because there’s a shortcut after 30km which takes you back to transition.  This is still Muskoka, so hills are the rule, not the exception; anything around a 90 minute ride would be fine by me.

Run


The run course is a fairly simple out and back that follows the river.  I hope that means it’s flat.  My achilles tendons have been stiff in the mornings even though I’ve taken it easy this week.  I will probably wear my Salomon trainers rather than the Zoot racing flats to give myself some more cushioning.  That will cost me a little in transition and the heavier shoes may make me slower.

Other Considerations


It looks like the family won’t be joining me on the race which makes things lonely, but at least a little more straightforward in terms of getting to and from the race site.  I’ll try to concentrate solely on getting the race done.  The weather forecast does not look promising, and storm weather could cancel the swim, converting the event to a duathlon.  I love the swim part, so this is not something I look forward to; the run has become something I do and let it all hang out because it represents the end.  Having a run first where I have to carefully manage my pace for the subsequent bike and run (again), is the kiss of death to me.  Still I know the countryside will be beautiful, and I have a great post-race experience to look forward to.  Wish me luck!

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Race Recap: Muskoka 5150

Sunday’s race renewed my faith in Muskoka as a region for triathlon, and re-invigorated my passion for the Olympic distance format.  Getting up at 5AM to make it to the race site was no picnic, especially since the Lightning Kid woke up for a feeding at four, but my wife was enough of a trooper to accompany me to the race while the kids were under the care of their grandmother, aunt and uncle.

Huntsville’s Summit Centre has been the race site for most of the non-70.3 races that the Subaru series has run the past few years (I’ve been coming since 2007, with the exception of 2010), so it there was some deja-vu for me approaching transition.  I got one of the last spots in my age group rack, far from the centre aisle that leads to the exit, but there was still space for me without having to cram and a lot of people were hanging their bikes up front first (by the brakes) which is how I like to do it too – it always makes things more harmonious when everybody (or most people) rack their bikes the same way.  Race kit pickup went smoothly and efficiently and all the volunteers had big friendly smiles.  I’ll talk about the swag at the end.

The Swim

The swim course was about the same as in previous years, just adjusted for length – start in Fairy Lake, head out for a couple of left-hand turns, and back up the river to the Summit Centre dock.  I’m happy to have started on the right side and made a good diagonal toward the buoy for the left turn, I think I got by a few swimmers on the turn, without bludgeoning anyone.

The morning light was a bit dim for sighting, but it was still bright overall.  Sometime on my way up the river, I noticed how sloppy my technique was, but the TYR Hurricane saved my butt.  The river meanders a little bit, and it can mess with your mind to make you think you’re almost finished when you’re not, but by the time I exited the water, I saw 34 minutes on the clock (my Garmin 910XT – first time wearing a device in the water on a race!) and I was very happy.  On review it does say that I swam 1800m rather than the 1500m I should have, but I don’t remember climbing up a dock the way Garmin says I must have…

Swim Stats – Official Time = 34:32; Pace/100m = 2:19; 21st out of 28 in my age group.

Transition 1

I probably waste time here because I always have a hard time putting on my heart-rate monitor and shirt; I can’t bring myself to put them on under the wetsuit.  Still I hustled to my bike, and was more or less efficient otherwise.
Official Time = 2:53

Bike

Here’s where the deja-vu ended.  This course was new and was the nicest ride I can remember having in a race – one of the nicest bike rides I can remember having.  It was my favourite part of the race, and for someone who does the bike portion of triathlon as begrudgingly as I do, that’s saying a lot.  The Muskoka region has always presented a challenge, since you’ll have nasty hills no matter which way you turn.  Still this was the first time riding this countryside that I really got the feeling of ‘rolling hills’ – there were times I felt like I was flying.  It also helped that there was plenty of new road work done recently to smooth things out.  Plenty of climbs to gut out, but enough downhill pay-offs without sudden turns to make you lose momentum.  The route took us South on Brunel road then West on Regional Road 10 to Port Sydney, which I found quite pretty, though I usually can’t spare much attention to that kind of thing while riding.  There was a point where several riders ended up getting held up by car traffic before a climb, and though racers were unhappy, we have to be able to share the road harmoniously with local traffic, right?  At any rate, with 2 gels in my system I ended up finishing nearly 8 minutes earlier than I thought I’d be able to, with my 3rd best bike time/speed ever (the other two occurring on the flat Wasaga course).

Bike Stats – Official Time = 1:22:49; Average Speed = 29km/h; 24th out of 28 in my age category.

Transition 2 

Besides sitting down to switch shoes (it took a lot of energy to get back on my feet again), I don’t think I could have done this much better.
Official Time = 1:14

Run

This course mixed the old with the new – some familiar sights from previous years, including the peak of Brunel Road near Princess Street giving us a big climb toward the end of each 5k lap, and some great variety on the new stuff.  There was a single loop of a track with rubberized ground like competitive runners (i.e. track and field types) use – my Achilles tendons appreciated this very much.  There was a climb past the Waterloo Summit Centre for the Enviroment (I had no idea this existed, but cheers for my alma mater – go Warriors!) and a descent on a trail back to near the swim course which challenged the burgeoning trail runner in me.  I was wearing my Zoots for this run, but that portion made me wonder if my Salomon’s might not have been more appropriate

I found my heart rate to be constantly bumping above my anaerobic threshold, in fact, it was hovering around 90% of max far too much, so I enforced walk breaks and I don’t regret it because I honestly believe it led to a faster overall pace and let me do some pain management.  These heart-rate breaks are also my justification for taking a bathroom break near the track (port-a-john) on the first loop.  On further review, it’s probably what let me really push it toward the end: new Max HR achieved!

I’d wanted a 55 minute time for the run, but in hindsight, I think my pacing estimate was too aggressive as it wasn’t based on a full 10k, never mind coming off the bike.  Thanks to taking the right amount of gels, and good leg strength and fast turnover built through the structured nature of our running group’s program I finished the run with a time I’m happy with – my third best run in an Olympic distance event.  Knowing I cracked the 3 hour mark overall, I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face.

Shark Boy, Me & the Lightning Kid

Run Stats – Official Time = 57:41; Average Pace = 5:47; 21st out of 28 in my age category


OVERALL STATS – OFFICIAL TIME = 2:59:07; 24th out of 28 in my age category; 254 out of 366 participants.

Extras

Post race food included bananas and apples, Sun Chips and Subway sandwiches, which I preferred to the Lasagna served in previous years.  It was easier to eat without a table, and more appropriate at 10AM.
Let’s get to the swag, shall we?  Racers walked away with not one, not two but three bags of stuff.  I appreciate the generosity, but unless you’re really into those cloth-type shopping bags, it seems like there could have been some sharing and more stuff could have been put into a single bag.
The Subaru bag had some of the usual things: deodorant, PowerBar, Race promo cards, Subaru print material, bread (?).
The Muskoka 5i50 bag had the race technical T-shirt.  We also got a hat at the finish, which I’m wearing in the above picture.
TriMuskoka gave a transition mat which could come in handy for any triathlete/duathlete.  My triathlon equipment bag has a built-in mat which I generally use, but I still think it’s a practical gift.
Overall a great event, and I’ll be on the lookout for any 5150 event I can drag myself and/or my family to in the future.
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Last Week’s Links

Just checking in to share some of the better links I came across last week.

  • A Brick workout without a bike, courtesy of Trifreaks: http://trifreaks.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/brick-workout-to-consider-without-biking/
  • Healthy Tipping Point takes a good look at Obstacle Races (please don’t call them Adventure Races, that’s something else).  Very thoughtful analysis, as usual.  
  • Better with Veggies put up a great post about breaking into triathlon from starting as a runner.  It’s how I got involved; I was already using swim and bike as cross-training, I loved pushing the envelope endurance-wise, but it was just too much running all the time, until I found a way to make it all work for me.
  • Speaking of breaking into triathlon, I was thumbing through my wife’s Chatelaine magazine when I saw this article.  Yay for triathlon in the mainstream!




Have a great day!


EDIT: Fixed the link to Healthy Tipping Point.

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Building my 2012 Race Calendar

It’s probably already getting to be too late to be plotting out my race calendar, as the training plan will follow from that – even one of my loosely structured ‘plans’ is in danger of never truly forming.  I have some favourite races, but I don’t want this year to be ‘Been There, Done That’ so there will be a lot of new and novel races for me this year.

Month
Race Name and Date
Quick Note
April
Primary Goal
May
NO RACES FOUND!
I may be supporting my wife in her race endeavours this month so…
June
Met Con Blue. June 2nd
Secondary Goal; Obstacle Course Race
Spartan Race Toronto (Oro); June 24th
Primary Goal; Obstacle Course Race
July
Muskoka 5150; July 22nd
Primary Goal; Olympic Distance Tri
August
Muskoka Grind; August 5th
Secondary Goal; Off-Road Tri
Primary Goal; Olympic Distance Tri
September
Logs Rocks and Steel; September 8th
Secondary Goal; Multi-sport Adventure

5 Peaks Trail run at Rattlesnake Point: I like running on trails and always have.  Still I don’t know that I can be considered a trail runner – I’m not sure if my usual routes are as technical or challenging as they would be if I were an ‘official’ trail runner.  Still, I’d like to try an official race and the races in this series come highly recommended.  This one is early in the season and as it’s my first one, I’ll stick to the shorter ‘Sport’ Course which is 4.5km.

MET CON BLUE: Obstacle races are blowing up as a trend, and what I like about this one is that it’s a Canadian Homegrown effort – I’m hoping that means less overcrowding than the Warrior Dash I did last year.  Collingwood and Blue Mountain have been like a  home away from home for my family in past years, so it would be fun to head up there for this.  It takes place the same weekend as the Milton Triathlon, but it looks like I might give that one a miss this year. I didn’t get much interest from friends when I tried to get a group going, unlike…

Spartan Race Toronto: This one is closer to where I live, and it looks like we have a strong contingent of people from the Jiu-Jitsu club going, so I’ll join in on the fun.

Muskoka 5150: Gone is the old Muskoka Chase triathlon; I guess I have mixed emotions.  It was a long standing race and one of my first.  The long course was always ‘neither-here-nor-there’: longer than Olympic distance but shorter than Half-Iron.  The Olympic Distance (51.5km total swim-bike-run) is probably my favourite distance so I’m jumping at the chance at doing this on my old stomping grounds in what is still technically a ‘new’ race.

Muskoka Grind: Every year I think I’m going to be able to try an off-road triathlon, and every year I don’t knuckle down and buy myself a mountain bike to accomplish it with.  So far, there’s been a dearth of these events in Ontario, but with this addition to the calendar maybe this is the year I get myself a mountain bike.  If only I knew anything about mountain bikes.  This will be promoted to primary race status once I have one…

Bracebridge Triathlon: The Recharge with Milk Series has become my favourite, but I seem to have trouble lining up their races with my schedule (at least last year).  Bracebridge used to have a Half-Iron but now they’ve gone down to the Olympic Distance, which suits me fine.

Logs, Rocks and Steel: In the same vein as trying an off-road triathlon, I wouldn’t mind dipping my feet into adventure racing without that pesky navigation or teamwork (I’m a loner, Dottie, a rebel).  This fits the bill! The Pine Crest Course is 4km of paddling (kayak for solos like me), 22km of mountain biking, then a 5km trail run.  Overall, it’s a lot for me to work up to… good thing it’s late in the season.  Still need that Mountain Bike though.

That’s the plan (so far).  Always subject to change as conflicts and chaos can arrive.  I’ll probably keep updating the table on a separate page of the blog as the year progresses.

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Book Review:The Distance (An Average Joe’s Path to Balancing Family, Work, and Triathlon) by David Mills

David Mills is not the kind of person you could make a lot of excuses to.  He trained for, and completed an Ironman triathlon (Louisville) while working as a navigator for the US Airforce in Okinawa (that means not only long but irregular hours), being a father to 2 children (including changing diapers), completing grad school courses, and attending church.  His book ‘The Distance’ chronicles his route to the finish line as ‘an Average Joe’… Although the description above doesn’t make him sound so average!

Let me get one thing out of the way: the author is a Christian, and not at all shy about it.  If you want your reading material to be 100% secular, you should be aware of this.  If you’re like me, and interested in being part of a tolerant society, you can treat an author’s faith as part of their voice, like a naughty sense of humour, or a tendency to overuse parentheses (like this!).

I generally stay away from biography and non-fiction, as I like my reading to have an escapist quality, but I did enjoy this book.  The book is fairly light reading; it is broken up into short chapters that give David’s overall journey a logical structure.  He starts off with not only a good overview of triathlons (specifically Ironmans) but also a self-examination of what made him want to attempt something he admits is ‘crazy’.

After a little insight into the mind of Average Joe Ironman, he spends a few chapters giving us background on his family (including how to include them in training), work, athletic background and surroundings.  This sets the stage for us to understand how little time he would have to spare, but the other nice part, is we feel like we’re getting to know the man, and the whole read feels like a conversation with a regular guy.  His humour and spirit really help in this regard.

From there he moves into the 3 disciplines of triathlon, one chapter at a time.  These were my favourite parts; even though I have my share of triathlon experience, I found David’s take to be enlightening (especially from the perspective of training longer distances) without alienating me by being overly technical or daunting.

“The swim portion is like the bouncer at the door and if you want to make it to the party inside you’ve got to train and find a way to overcome your fear in order to get past that beast of a swim.  The swim portion keeps out the riff-raff”

David’s advice is to be as relaxed as possible, not only for energy conservation, keep your technique clean, avoid the melee of feet and elbows, but also from a ‘stop and smell the roses’ perspective.  It’s solid and sensible advice.

I got the most out of the bike chapter; since Ironman biking distance represents the biggest jump from my comfort zone (I’ve run a marathon and swam 2.1km in races before, but never biked more than 55km) in my weakest discipline.  David correctly identifies cycling as the most time consuming discipline, as well as illustrating the importance of knowing basic bike repair:

“Part of the spirit of Ironman is self-sufficiency.  You can’t accept any outside aid from friends or family, and no one else on a bike can lend you any tools or help either….Flat tire? Change it yourself. Broken Chain? Should’ve carried a chain tool and a spare link…”

 He also stresses the necessity of eating while on the road.  I always knew to take in calories during the race (I usually use gels and sport drinks) but I didn’t know that most Iron distance athletes use real, solid food like bagels (or rice balls wrapped in seaweed if you’re in Okinawa!).  The idea of taking nutrition breaks at local stores/cafes makes longer rides seem more appealing, I’ve got to admit.

Once you get to the run chapter, you’ll see where David’s ideas get a little revolutionary.

“…you don’t have to run as much as someone training for a marathon… all that swimming and biking you’re doing is also increasing your overall fitness… If you must err, then err on the side of undertraining.”

Obviously his advice is always geared toward completing the Ironman, not competing or achieving a specific performance goal.  He also highlights a difference between marathons and Ironman: the lack of headphones forces the athletes to be more ‘in the moment’ and cultivates a more communal atmosphere as athletes talk with each other and get engaged with spectators.  I liked that he was able to see a positive side to what most of us see as a real negative to triathlon racing.

For my part, what I’ve gathered from this book and other sources that the obstacle is simply wanting it badly enough; everything else is just an excuse.  So will I be doing an Ironman next year? No, I don’t want to.  I don’t want to spend hours and hours on my bike (I could live with more running and swimming, I guess), or ask my family to make sacrifices on my behalf, or handle the more complicated logistics of travel and accomodation.  I will tell you though, that after reading this book, I don’t want to do it a lot less.

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Wetsuits and Weigh-ins

Remember when I won the free wet-suit from TYR?  Well it arrived and I’m stoked!  When I spoke to the rep, he told me to pick my size from the following chart and if I was between sizes I should pick the larger, as their suits tend to fit very tightly:

Size Height (ft/in) Weight (lbs) Height (cm) Weight (kg)
XS 4’9-5’4 118-142 146-160 54-65
S 5’3-5’9 138-166 158-170 62-75
S/M 5’7-6’0 146-173 165-181 66-78
M 5’8-6’1 155-188 172-184 71-85
M/L 5’10-6′-2 158-191 179-187 72-86
L 5’10-6’3 175-199 181-189 79-90
XL 5’10-6’4 191-220 183-194 86-100
XXL 6’0-6’8 208+ 185-201 94+

But here’s the thing:

OOPS!

So I guess I should pick the XL right? Especially because it’s the off-season, and I’m likely to only gain weight before next season… Well, I might be dumb but I ordered the large.  I guess, I want the wet-suit to be the stick (or the carrot, depending on your point of view) that will keep me policing my own weight, even when my life derails my training/dietary plans…

It (TYR Hurricane Cat 5) fits great, and I can’t wait to try (tri?) it in the water.  Thanks Multi-Sport Canada and TYR!

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Orillia Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I usually find other people’s race reports to be a little boring, so I’ll try to keep this short and succinct. This was my first time doing this particular race, and I only found out that the distances 3 weeks beforehand; a busy summer had me dropping from last year’s Olympic distance training levels to ‘Sprint’ levels (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) but Orillia upped the bike-run distance by 60% (33km bike, 7km)! I was under-trained, and being underprepared is going to be a bit of a theme in this story.


An 8AM start time meant getting up a 4:45AM, and this doesn’t lead to a sharp mind by the time you’re at the race site; I hadn’t filled my water bottles, and been unable to get my bib pinned – but I had a saviour (via his mom): Trevor Clark. This young man finished 3rd in Junior Men, he’s friendly and incredibly polite, and obviously has a great future ahead of him. Most important to me, he had an extra race belt!


To calm my pre-race nerves and fears, my wife gave me the following advice: “This is something you enjoy; go out there, and take your time, you’ll be sure to finish, and have fun doing it.” Words to live by, for sure. I hit the water with barely a minute to spare, and though Lake Couchiching is big enough to have some chop, the swim was smooth and simple, and sure enough, I was enjoying myself! The swim was over all too soon.  


I found the bike course to have a lot of nice variety; country houses, farmer’s fields, shady treed lanes. There were a couple of times where I saw a turn coming, and rather than try to pass shortly before the bottleneck that would result, I kept my gear light, my cadence high and simply enjoyed the ride. It probably made my ride more efficient. There were some riders whose *bike budget clearly overpowers their swim ability* who passed me at the 8k, 15k and 25k (!) mark, but I was pleased to see an overall mix of athletes who were able to hang together (alternately passing and being passed) with bikes of various qualities and fitness levels of which to be proud. Climbing over Highway 11 near the 28km mark was nasty, as the hill was steep, and fatigue was starting to set in.


Both of my transitions were not the fastest, but it didn’t bother me since I was treating this race with more of a ‘smell the roses’ attitude anyway. The run course was all road, so I opted for my cushioned Salomons rather than my Zoot racing flats, and suffered no problems. It felt like I had a conservative start with a strong finish for a negative split, but after reviewing the statistics that doesn’t seem to be the case. The course was nice and flat, and the final half kilometer was through the park, allowing for lots of cheering (Spectator tip: “Way to go” and “great job” are always welcome but “All downhill from here” is like music to my ears).


Post race food is plentiful, and some of those snacks are right up my alley (the key ingredient is chocolate, people). World Endurance Canada still knows how to run an event (maybe more rack space though guys?).