Triple - T...what a way to spend a weekend!

Wow, I certainly underestimated how hard it would be to do 4 triathlons in 3 days.

I knew it would be a tough weekend but I had no comprehension of how I would feel waking up on Sunday morning with another 5 hours of givin 'er in the swim, bike and run staring me square in the face. To sum it up, I felt like crap.

The thing is, training for Ironman, I've done weekends where my volume has been significantly higher than that of Triple - T, I guess doing it at race pace makes a difference - actually it makes a HUGE difference.

It was a long weekend and if I wasn't still so tired it could be a long report, I'll keep it brief:

Friday - cold, short, rainy, I tasted blood, 1 race down.

Saturday am - cold, bike was HILLY, rode with Gordo, got dropped like a bag 'o hammers by Gordo on the run, all in all, it was a pretty decent race for me.

Saturday pm - Bike was HILLY, saw a guy waving a HUGE confederate flag yelling "I'm gonna get you", got off the bike into my wetsuit, proceeded to almost drown due to cramps in legs (no joke), barely made it to the run course, hobbled for 2 miles before my legs learned to move again, finished tired and sore, never want to do a Bike, Swim, Run format again...until the next time I do TTT

Sunday am - woke up and felt awful, forced down some breakfast, sulked all the way to transition, started anyway and started to feel OK, bike was HILLY, rode with Gordo again, got a flat tire, started the run well, weekend + sub-par fitness took it's toll around mile 7, shuffled home, FINISHED!

So yeah, it was a hard weekend but it was different and fun (with the exception of a few choice miles on the run Saturday and Sunday). I drove down with Mike C from Sudbury and Dave B from Parry Sound, they raced as a team - which I would definately do if I were to enter TTT again. Fefe posted on slowtwitch that she had some openings in her cabin, so we took her up on it and ended up having a great time with lots of laughs. That's really what TTT (and all triathlon, really) is about - everyone is in this craziness together so you just go out and do it, hopefully with a smile on your face and some words of encouragement for your fellow TTT'ers....or you could be a grump like me and walk around like the picture above.

Next up is Muskoka, should be a cake walk compared to this!

King of the Hill, Donkey of the Peleton

I had a pretty interesting day at the Niagara Classic road race yesterday. I raced Cat. 3 again, our race was 7 loops of 12.3km - each lap finishing up a legendary bump in the road called Saylor's Hill a 400m or so power climb at around 12% grade.

The first lap I hung around in the first 1/3 of the pack until the "climb" where I moved up to the front. I wanted to see who was strong so I pushed the pace over the top and stayed on the gas for a while. Looking around, it looked like there were about 10 guys who had the horsepower to get into a selection should something occur - these were the guys to watch.

So I stayed near the front for a while and attacked a few times trying to get something to stick but the boys couldn't/didn't want to get organized. After the 3rd time up Saylor's and a few more attacks (my NP for the 1st hour was 358W) I attacked and somehow got away alone. That was not my plan...after I got about :10 I dialed it back to about 80% and figured that a few guys would try to bridge and that would be it. Well no one came and when I looked back and my gap had grown to around :30 so I decided to try to make a go from there. I kept on the gas and extended my gap to 2:00 over the course of the next couple laps. Approaching the 6th time up the climb however it was as if all of a sudden the effort of the past 2 hours had just made itself known to my legs. I lost ~:50 seconds to the pack on that 400m stretch of road and still had 12km to ride...this was gonna be ugly. Long story short, ove the course of those 12km, I went from 1:10 in front to off the back.

Despite an embarassingly anti-climactic end to my race, I did end up taking the "King of the Mountain/Hill" prize which covered my entry fee, I was the most active and aggressive and really the only one that seemed concerned with making the race interesting. I know I'm not going to win in a 400m sprint up a 12% grade, but I do know that I can grind these dudes down on the flats, rollers and headwinds so that's where I tried to win....oh well! Onto the Triple-T this weekend where hopefully those hours spent off the front yesterday will be put to good use sandwiched between a swim and a run...over and over and over again!

Go West, Young Man!

In a few short months, this is where we are going to be living, working and playing! EWY has accepted a wicked gig with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic organizing committee so we're taking the big step and moving across the country.

Lots still up in the air (ie. a job for me, a place to live that will allow our two pooches, you know just the small details!) but we are very excited for the change of scenery and to finally live together full time.

On a training front, I'm trying to squeeze the workouts in amongst work, getting our house on the market and job hunting but I feel like I'm hitting the main sessions pretty well and skipping the filler aka swimming ;)

The big or actually the first test will be in a little over a week at the DeSoto American Triple-T. It's a stage race consisting of 4 races in 3 days, culminating with a Half Ironman in what is rumoured to be VERY tough terrain on Sunday morning. Looks to be some good AG talent in the mix so it'll be fun to see how I stack up...or if I survive.

I've also got one more bike race this weekend in basically my backyard. The Niagra Classic hosted by the local cycling club runs Sunday. The weather forecast is calling for 30km/h winds and rain, should be epic!

Anyway, that's the BIG news for this update!

Oh, and I don't really know who reads this so if you're someone close to us who is offended to find out that we're moving across the country by reading my blog I'm sorry but you should call us more often...Mom