Full results from this weekends Paradise Sprint are online for anyone who wants to check out how the field looks. For me 28th out of 85 makes me no longer a middle of the packer.6th out of 13 in my age group, but there was a clump of 4 of us within 2 minutes of each other. Check out the results , pictures are coming.

Tonight was my third 20k ITT. The conditions were fair. Cool and overcast, but the wind was blowing opposite to the normal direction, so we had a tail wind going out, and a headwind coming home, but home was downhill, so it made for some fast times.

After Sunday, I thought it would be tough, and I was right. My legs were not sore, just tired. But once I started, I just put the tired feeling out of my mind, and hammered. At the quarter mark, I thought my legs were going to explode. I had to slow a little, but managed to pick it up again to clock a good first half. Coming home was a little slower than normal due to the wind, but still fast. I was only passed by 4 riders, 2 of them right at the finish. That’s a huge bonus for me. The final tally was just really close to 38 flat. That’s almost a 2 minute improvement from the last 20k ITT, and almost 5 minutes faster than the season opener.

I left before results were announced, so I am not quite sure where I placed, but everyone had fast rides, so I expect to be still pretty far down the list.

If I can keep improving my 20k times, I should be close to my PB by end of the summer, and I am looking foward to some good times, and some good rides between now and then. For now, I have an extended long weekend starting tomorrow, thanks to Canada Day, or for a lot of people, Memorial day. One more hard ride tomorrow morning, then a couple of days rest.

Boy, from the comments on yesterdays post, there sure are a lot of bored people out there, posting that they are looking forward to my race report. Either that, or they are trying to make me feel good, OR, they really are interested in triathlon.

A couple of things about this race. It was the first annual for the town of Paradise. And the weather on race morning was excellent. Cloudy, and warm with light winds. I got there early, set up my transition, went for a quick swim warmup, then back to the finish area for a quick briefing.

The race director gave some instructions for the routes including instructions not to go off the main trail at about 3.5k into the run, and onto a private trail over a small stream. THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR LATER.

THE SWIM

Overcast skies, and low winds meant excellent swim conditions. The pond was flat, and visibility was good, but this was the roughest swim start I was ever involved in. Including Ironman Florida. I was punched, kicked, and swam over, but at the end, I was on the beach in 13:26.

THE BIKE

3 loops for 21k. I got out quickly, and grouped up with a couple of my agegroup peers. We all traded off a couple of times, I couldn’t shake any of them including RB.In 8 years of racing, I only beat him in 1 race. Last year at Ironman Newfoundland 70.3. On loop 3, I started to fade, and lost the group, but I was still having a solid ride. Into T2 in 43 minutes.

THE RUN

I was out of T in under 20 seconds, and onto the trail. Doing a trail run around Octagon Pond meant soft footing and little traffic, but limited visability. There was no way to see who you were chasing until one out and back section at about 2k, I was behind all my usual peers, but making ground on the closest 3. I was running hard, keeping my stride short, and my turnover high. Then at the afore mentioned private trail, and bridge, out came RB. He had taken that forewarned trail, and went off course long enough for me to catch him. We ran neck and neck for about a half km, until I pulled away. I tried to break away and put distance between us, but after I passed him, I couldn’t see him. When I reached about 200m to the finish, I thought I had it until about 50m left, and one of the spectators yelled he was catching me. When I turned for a peak, he darted past me and beat me to the line.

THE FINISH

It was so close, and RB and I pushed each other to a 1:23. I really would have liked to jump up a spot in the agegroup. But upon reflection, I was really pleased with the effort. Good swim, solid bike, and a very good run. We finished with a BBQ at the community centre. I’ll have a couple of more chances to make move up in my age group. Can’t wait for Carbonear.

What an absolutely awesome day for a sprint triathlon, and since it was the first ever Paradise Newfoundland triathlon, it was even more special.

The swim was cool, but seasonable. The bike course was mostly flat, and fairly fast. The run was on a 5k trail, excellent running, the only drawback was that you couldn’t see the rest of the pack, and who you were chasing.

The damage, on the day for me was a 1:23 battle with several other of my agegroup peers. Full report will follow.

I decided to preclude my weekly Friday Funies to blog about my most awesome ride this evening. Yes, as all you booze hounds were out at your favourite local for a few cool ones and maybe a pint and a basket of wings, I decided to take advantage of an absolutely beautiful evening to finally get in my 40k Trial. Yes, contrary to popular belief, we don’t all hang at Geroge Street on Friday.

The conditions were perfect for a hard ride. Overcast, but warm with light winds, in fact this was the first ride of the summer that I could ride in just cycling shorts and a jersey. I did my 40k route from my house to the town of Paradise, and back.

Here are the stats.

1:24:32 for 23k.
Average Speed 29.5 kmh
Maximum Speed 64.5 kmh

But the best stat was 52 kmh in the 50 zone. Yes, I was speeding. It was a part of the route on a slight downgrade that levels off just as the speed limit goes from 100 to 50, if you get up enough speed on the down portion, and concentrate on staying aero, you can pick up some wicked speed. And tonight was perfect for breaking the limit. And if you go back to the last time I did this loop, its almost a 5 minute improvement over the 1:29.

And for my recovery supper, and Charisa would be so proud of me, Caesar salad with tofu chicken nuggets. Don’t worry Charisa, I made up for it last night with Don’s ultimate wings from Don Cherries.

With barely a little more than a week away, I thought a few TDF memories would help spark everyone’s interest. This article is from Bicycling Magazine, and features a top 10 moments by our favourite Texas born cycling champ.

My fav is number 6, but they all brought back some memories. I’ll be on vacation, so I’ll likley miss the opening couple of stages, but It will be awesome.

I have written so many articles now that I could almost start a blog on heart health by itself. The latest article I came across was on the CBC website, and it was actually really good news for us here North of the Border.

According to the article, Deaths and hospital admissions from cardiovascular disease dropped almost 30 per cent in the decade after 1994, but slightly more women than men were dying from cardiovascular causes, Canadian researchers say.

With an aging population and a public health care system, this is indeed good news. 4,000 fewer Canadians died from a heart attack in 2004 than did so in 1994. However, and there seems to always be a however, there continues to be an outstanding need to tackle obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

The article noted that the increase in obesity and diabetes are risk factors that could push the number of cardiac deaths in Canada back up.

So for everyone exercising and following a healthy lifestyle, Thanks for skewing the stats in the right direction, and for everyone else, get off your butts and get on your bikes and ride.

Hoo Raw, another rest day. Good news. I'll be good and rested for the 40k whenever it happens. Bad news, It might not happen.

The forecast is for 5 to 10mm of rain with thundershowers in the morning, tapering off to drizzle and fog in the afternoon.

If it gets cancelled tomorrow, wednesday is Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers, Thursday is Showers.

So if it doesn't go tomorrow, it'll likely not go at all. Plus a week of crappy workouts, for a preparation week for the sprint on Sunday.

Last resort, I'll break out the mountain bike, or the trainer. Fingers crossed, we'll race tomorrow.

For the first time since I decided to get really serious about my blog, back in January, I missed a daily post. I knew it would happen when the summer rolled around, with vacations and weekends etc. As it turned out, yesterday we bid farewell to neighbours who are moving away to Colorado Springs. So an evening out and a few pints at the local, and I ended up missing my first post on nearly six months.

But before my evening festivities, I did get in a killer training session. A 2 hour ride on my tri bike done as 2, 20k sets on the tri course. Our course is a double 23k loop, for the Olympic distance. The weather was really nice. About 12 deg C and very light winds. A little cool at about 30 kph, but excellent riding weather just the same. After a 20 min ride out done easy as warm-up, I did the first loop in 46:45.

I took a 5 minute break for water and a little food, and then started the second loop. About 10k into the second loop, I started getting that shaky fuzzy wobbly feeling. Yes, I was about to hit the wall. I stopped and downed a gel, and drank a little water, then started again. After about 10 minutes, I started to come around. But the damage on the second loop was 50:29.

The good news was that I was able to stay aero for most of the ride. I am slowly getting more comfortable with the aero position on the slice. Today was a rest day, with a fuzzy head, and desperate need for a good night sleep. Another week of killer workouts, and I will be set for Sunday

I think the rules say that both wheels have to cross the line.



The joy of mountain biking. Notice no brain bucket.


Olympic Cyclist


How not to lock your commuter bike.

In preparation for my 40k ITT coming up on Tuesday, I decided to do a 40k out and back from my house on my slice. Before I left, I adjusted my bars down one spacer ring to try and get a little more aero.

For the majority of the ride, I was able to stay in the bars which is a huge positive for me. Especially since the course is quite hilly, I took it as good practice.

Also considering there was a pretty good headwind, and it is late in a big week of training, sleep was a little shortened last night, and my legs were pretty dead from my run last night, I would consider the 1:29 to be a pretty good baseline for training.

FYI My time to beat from last year is 1:34:50 which was on a brutal rainy windy night. so here is to 20 deg C and no wind.

My first run in about a week, after a slight back injury, and a week of waiting for good weather so we could put off our 20k ITT, I finally hit the road for my tempo loop, although it was more like a trot. And it felt horrible.

I need to get some consistency back into my training. Thanks Bejebus the upcoming sprint is only a 5k run.

So for the thousands of followers expecting something clever, sorry to dissapoint. I am off to never never land at 10:00.

TTFN

If you are getting bored loggin those miles on the road or tri bike, and want to mix it up a little, try a mountain bike race.

I was a mountain bike race virgin until tonight. As it turned out, it was a very convienient excuse to get in a hard ride because there was a kids ride before hand, and the B-Ling was all over it.

So we showed up, signed in, did a couple of warmup laps, then the kids went. Then we went. 8 loops of the “I don’t know how long it was” course at upchuck intensity.

The course was not too hard core, but I have to admit, it was a challenge for a newbie. All dirt, except for one downhill section on a gravel road that was covered in very loose crushed stone. The trail part of the course was one lane only, so if you wanted to pass, you had to go into the trees. One portion through the woods was full of bare roots, and huge boulders and you had to be on your toes to not throw yourself off the bike.

So what made this a tough workout, you go hard for about 20 seconds, and then hold on as you ride over rocks and yesmams. As well as blowing up your legs, your upper body is working to control the bike.

So now, I need to find some shoes, and pedals, so I don’t fly off next time around.

So if you need to mix it up, give it a try.

I glanced back through some of my training last fall when I clocked a sub 36 minute 20k ITT. Besides being nearly race ready for Clearwater, 10 lbs lighter, and fit from a summer of hard training, I noticed that I did a couple of blocks of super intense training with tons of hill repeats, and intervals.

So in trying to shock my body into shape for the upcoming 40k ITT, I decided to embark on a hill workout today. A total of 4 repeats of about 4 minutes with HR at 165 to 175, which falls into zone 5a, or a PRE of 8.5 out of 10.

I did mine on my tri bike, in the aerobars for as long as I could stand. The other significant item is that I felt more comfortable in the bars than ever. So we’ll see if the hard work will transfer into speed on our hilly windy 40k course.

So I finally got off my butt and did an awesome workout. Kinda had to force myself outa bed at 5:30. Had a little breakfast, couple cups of java, then out into the balmy 8 degree sunny morning for a two hour tour.

The plan was a warm up, out to our local tri course, then one hard loop of the course for time. Then home.

The damage was 2 hours total, but my timed loop was 47 minutes, which if you read my Olivers pond Sprint report was almost 7 minutes faster.

Ok it could be that it wasn’t as windy, or that i didn’t swim 500m before, or that the course was about 1.5k short, but I think that I am getting Faster. THAT’S MY STORY AND i AM STICKING TO IT!

The nicest trophy in professional sports, being presented to the youngest team captain, Sidney Crosbey. If that don’t get you fired up, nothing will. Thank goodness it’s all over. Now I can get some regular sleep.

Yes, its Saturday evening, and I am soooo tired. I think I have a full blown case of Stanley Cup flu. I was supposed to do a long brick session today. Part of my plan to shock my system back into race shape for a couple of big events coming up. Our Summer solstice 40k ITT a week from Tuesday, and the first annual Paradise Sprint Triathlon.

But for now, an early evening, and early rise, and a good workout tomorrow.

This is NOT my new truck!

After postponement Tuesday, and again on Wednesday, we finally got our fourth 20k ITT off the ground thanks to sunny skies, and light winds. The only complaint was the temp of 9 deg C, which is 48 deg F for those lucky buggers who are eligible for Missy’s $100.00 sneaker giveaway.

So after what I thought was a brutal first 20k, this one was a vast improvement knocking almost 3 minutes off my 42:52 from three weeks ago, to 39:55 tonight.

Hilights from tonight, I didn’t get passed by Rick until about 18k mark. He usually catches me before the turn around, although that may have as much to do with the great turnout, and a better seed than my performance. I almost caught the number 1 starter. I’ll catch her before the end of the season.

Hopefully with a couple of hard weeks of training, I’ll be ready for the 40k coming up in 2 weeks, and the next sprint in about 2 and a half weeks.

Keeping with the theme of athletes and heart health, there was a very interesting report on our local CBC evening news program. It seems that along with diabetes, another result of the growing epidemic of obesity is the sudden increase of high blood pressure in children ages 5 and 6 years.

Part of the increase is blamed on the overabundance of fast food outlets, and the fact that it has increased from being an occasional treat to becoming a regular part of kid’s diets. But along with diet, another reason that was given was genetics.

As reported by Pediatric Cardiologist Christina Templeton, people in our part of the world are descendants of survivors of the great potato famine of the mid 1800’s. It seems that our deep Irish and English ancestry are partly to blame. If you think about it, it makes sense. During that time in history, the people who survived the famine and didn’t die of starvation were the people who were genetically predisposed to efficiently store calories.

So as with striving for excellence in athletics, being heart healthy is a matter of eating a healthy balanced diet, exercising regularly, and choosing the correct parents.

Well, I do not know how she did it, but Ann Marie delivered another year with excellent early season weather. I showed up early to check out the location of the swim buoys, and set up the bike racks.


The Swim: The water temp was about 15 degrees C. Warm enough to swim, but cold enough that you still knew it was early summer, even with a wetsuit. I am not sure the exact distance, but some of the better swimmers estimated it to be a bit over 500m, so my 10:10 with a couple of stops to see if some of the slower new athletes were ok, was pretty good.

The Bike: The course was windy. Tail wind on the first half on the flats, but then a wicked head wind on the rolling hilly section. I don’t handle the wind well, and my time showed it at 54:08.


The Run: Two loops, and slightly less than 5k. In fact I clocked off about 2.2 for 1 loop, so a 4.4 or 4.5 k run in 22:52 was ok by me. The run felt good after a tough bike leg. My stride smooth and I didn’t feel like I was ready to die, like I did in other years.





Apres: You can see by the picture, AM made sure all were well fed. Hamburgers, and fixins along with a few cold beers, and of course the cake. All made for a great day.

The slide show with lots more pictures are here. Tomorrow I will write about the charity. Stay Tuned.

Have you heard of Self myofascial release? Me neither.

My wife went to yoga class on Sunday, but when she got there, class was changed to a foam roller class. She did the class anyway, and when she got home, she spent the next hour telling me what a wicked class it was before she turned in at about 12:30 for a 2 and a half hour nap. Then she got up and continued to tell me about what a wicked class it was.

From this article by By Curb Ivanic, M.Sc, CSCS, PES, owner of Ultrafitness, Self myofascial release (SMFR) is a great way to improve flexibility and mobility of tight
muscles and restricted joints. It works on two principles: (1) it breaks up fascial adhesions
and (2) it manipulates certain neuromuscular receptors to let the muscle release any
tightness.

Think of it this way. You do a series of moves where you roll different parts of your body over a 6 to 8 inch diameter foam roller that is usually about 4 of 5 feet long. Rolling your muscles over the roller while using your body weight is similar to getting a full body massage, or so I am told.

Check out both the article mentioned above as well as the video at the top to get a better idea of what it’s all about. I am now searching for a 4 or 5 foot long 6 inch diameter foam roller so we can try it at home.

Anybody who has tried this, let me know what you think.

So I am a little sore after yesterday’s effort. The wind is light, the fog is absent, Numbers 3 and 4 are having a Sunday Afternoon nap. So what to do.

If you live in the oldest city in North America, and your house is only about 10k away from the Eastern most point in North America, you can visit signal hill.




North America ends here. next stop is England.


B on top of one of the cannons at Queens Battery. these protected the harbour against invading ships trying to enter the narrows up until the mid 1800's.


The cannons pointed straight out here waiting to blow a hole in any enemy ships that dared to try and enter.


The gun batteries at Fort Amherst on the South Side of the Narrows.

The pic above is from last year. Pics from this year, and a full report to follow.

Here is the damage.

Swim 10:10, not sure the exacr distance. Some of the really good swimmers thought it was slightly longer than 500m

Bike 54:08 for 24.6 km. Really strong headwind on the hilly back half.

Run 22:52. Not quite 5k, but this was pretty quick compared to last year.

I didn’t count transitions as I kinda milled around waiting for everyone else to get out of the water and get going. But given the last two weeks, not a bad effort.

Only downside, I didn’t win the wine, so I had to buy my own.

I saw this on another blog one time, but never fails to crack me up.


I was that guy my first year.


No Secret here. Keep the hands on the bars.

And it felt awful. My back is coming around, so I forced myself out today. Twice. To the pool at lunch for a 30 minute easy splash, and then a baby brick this evening, on my slice for some intervals, and then a quick 15 minute transition trot.

After a semi planned easy week last week, and then an unplanned 4 days off this week because of my wonky back, meant a rough go in both workouts. But with a mini sprint coming up on Saturday, it had to be done, and I have to say, I now feel pretty good.

The funny thing with back injuries is that moving around does it more good than harm. At least for me, so hopefully by Saturday, I’ll be ready for a solid effort.

I came across this while cruising the net. I stumbled upon a forum on nutrition, and came across a post that linked to a story on the movie “Super Size Me” and how quite a few people besides the executives at McDonalds, were quite critical of the movie, and it’s conclusions.

For those who haven’t seen it, or need a refresher, the movie featured it’s maker, Morgan Spurlock, who ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days, but in addition, he set the following rules, He had to try everything on the menu at least once, he had to supersize the meal if requested by the server, he had to eat everything on his tray, and he set his daily caloric count to 5000 to 5500, and shunned exercise.

I did a little google research, and found that there were some pretty compelling critisms of the movie including an August 25, 2005 article by the American Council of Science and Health , as well as another article by Andrew Struttaford of The National Review Online . But most intriguing was this article I found by Soso Whaley, who decided to conduct her own experiment, with a huge difference. Similar to Spurlock, she sampled every item on the menu at least once, however, she limited her calories to 1800 to 2000 per day, and didn’t force herself to clean the tray every time, and did not include an automatic supersize clause. The result, after 60 days, she lost, yes lost 18 pounds, and her cholesterol dropped.

I watched Super Size Me, and was as disgusted as everyone else. The film filled a void in the guilty souls of obese north Americans. It provided an onscreen hug and pat on the back and made us feel like the cause of obesity was corporate enterprises, trickery and marketing gimmicks forcing greasy fries and burgers down our throats. I think that's why the film was so popular. Its message to it’s overweigh audience was "It’s not your fault"

The truth is that if you eat 5000 to 5500 calories a day and don't exercise, you will gain weight. Even if you eat tofu, bean sprouts, and grilled chicken breast. In my humble opinion, balance is the key, and an occasional greasy splurge won’t kill you. And even a habitual indulgence is ok if you make the right choices.

If read by the right people, this article is sure to spawn some hot debate. Check out the articles and see for yourself, then get back with some juicy comments.

First of all, for anyone interested, the picture here is Ann Marie, and two of her swim buddies, trying out the water this weekend. Like I said, 14 degrees, but the weather looks good for the week, so it’ll most likely warm up a few more degrees before Sunday. If you want to see what a triathlon looks like at someone’s house, with a driveway for a transition area, have a look.

Next up, PLEASE read this. Triathlon is tough, but it’s even tougher if you can’t see where you are going. But that’s exactly what Terry Gardner is doing.

Terry is 51, and about 4 years ago, glaucoma took away 95 percent of the vision in one of his eyes. Always a sports fan, Terry had spent time watching the Corner Brook Triathlon. Now he was compelled to to give the sport a try. Terry is now preparing to participate in the Blind Guys Tri, a venture run in conjunction with the annual Joe’s Team Triathlon in Muskoka, Ont.

Give this a read if you need inspiration, feel sorry for yourself, or just need a feel good dose. And best of luck to Terry.

Really, except, my back is feeling a little better, so I tentatively signed up for the 20k ITT tomorrow.

At the very least, I'll have some more pics. AND olivers Pond Sprint is saturday. Apparently, the pond is 12 deg C, or about 54 F. DRYSUIT OPTIONAL. MMM Can't wait.

TTFN