PORT PERRY -- After nearly two years of training, Syd Trefiak hopes all his hard work will pay off in about 10 hours tomorrow.
That's when the 30-year-old Port Perry resident will embark on his first ever Ironman experience at the Ford Ironman Triathlon in
"This is something I am really excited for," he said prior to departing for the sunshine state. "It's been about a year-and-a-half, almost two years of focused training to get ready for this race."
The event, according to Trefiak, consists of 3.8 kilometre swim, followed by a 180km bike race and is capped off by a 42km run.
After four years of competing on various triathlon circuits, Trefiak feels he is ready for this next challenge, and even had a time in mind that would be an acceptable finish.
"This is a big jinx, but ten and a half hours I would be happy with," he says with a chuckle.
After years of mountain biking and being involved in other sports, Trefiak ran his first triathlon about four years ago at the urging of his wife, Jenn.
"I've been in endurance sports like mountain biking for years and my wife was working for a small paper in Niagara Falls and told me there was one going on, a triathlon going on, and said 'why don't you go do it' So I did it and I won and I've been addicted ever since," he recalls.
And the winning has certainly followed Trefiak around as evidenced by his first place showing at the World Championship Triathlon qualifier earlier this year in
"It was an Olympic Distance race, which is a 1.5 kilometre swim, a 40 kilometre bike and a 10 kilometre run in
In preparation for the Ironman, Trefiak, a teacher at Oshawa Central Collegiate, has been training anywhere from 15 to 23 hours a week, on top of his regular work hours. Though it's probably been a bit much at times, he understands that to be successful at such a high level within the sport, a certain level of dedication is necessary.
"It requires a certain amount of focus and you have to know a lot about what you are doing because you can really hurt yourself if you don't do it properly," he says. "You can probably do one by training 10-15 hours a week, but I guess it depends on how well you want to do in it."
During his training regimen, Trefiak estimates his longest bike ride at over seven hours and 200-plus kilometres and his longest swim at "four or five thousand meters."
To say he is aptly prepared for tomorrow's challenge might be a slight understatement.
Spare time isn't exactly something Trefiak has found much of over the last while, but he still manages to run a website dedicated to triathletes (www.canadiantriathletes.com) and in the near future harbours hopes of getting into the coaching field.
I think I won the triathlon anyways. There was noone else running!The easiest and quickest way to get some of this free speed is too learn how to shift your bike properly. I hear you all saying now, I know how to shift. You pull up on the shifter for easier gears, and push down when I want a harder gear. Simple, Right? Not necessarily.
If you watch top riders they will do a lot of passing approaching hills, and going over the top of hills. This is because of how and when they are shifting.
Approaching a hill.
A lot of people panic when approaching a hill. They shift into the gear they believe they need to be climbing in way too early. To get free speed when going up the hill the best way to shift is to focus on maintaining a constant high cadence and effort as long as possible.
How you shift can assist you in this. When approaching the hill try and maintain your momentum as long as possible. Shift down one gear at a time and hold each gear until your cadence is starting to fall. Then shift to the next gear. By doing this you will maximize the momentum gained on the approach. This is a very effective technique when riding rolling hills. Often you can avoid getting into your granny gear at all. Not only will this save you speed, it also saves a lot of effort. The less time you spend grunting in your granny gear the better.
If you learn this skill rolling hills can actually be faster than a completely flat race course.
The disclaimer with this one is that you need to have full confidence in your bikes ability to shift smoothly when climbing. Skipping a gear doing this could result in the loss of a lot of momentum.
At the top.
For all of us after grunting up a hill the instinct is to ease off once we are at the top to get a bit of a breather. However, you give up a lot of speed when a few more pedal strokes can net you up to 5 seconds time bonus! Multiply that by the number of hills you will do in any given race and viola! Free time!
When you reach the top of a hill resist the urge to rest right away. Keep pedalling strongly over the top of the apex of the hill. This should include shifting through a few gears as well. Give a couple of real strong pedal strokes once you start heading down the other side of the hill before taking a rest. Once again, it is all about momentum. If you can give the bike a bit of a boost before heading down the hill the momentum gained at the top will result in greater gains further down!
Ideally you should keep pedaling down the hill as long as possible. A little input at this stage from you can increase your speed by 5 -8 km per hour. Where else during a race can a little pedaling have such an effect?
Other things you can do!
PSI. No that is not the newest crime drama out there. Pounds Per Square Inch. This is the pressure that is in your tires! Properly inflated tires are an easy source of free speed.
Most clincher tires can hold around 120 PSI in pressure comfortably. Some people flirt with more. The higher the pressure in your tire the harder it becomes to make the tire bend or flex. It can also narrow the footprint of the tire. The less material touching the road the faster you will go. This is part of the reason the skinny tires on road bikes are faster than mountain bikes. Making sure your tires are properly inflated is a vital pre race routine.
When entering transition you always see people inflating their tires. They do this at the race for a couple of reasons.
Properly inflated tires also reduce the risk of a puncture. The smaller footprint also makes it harder to hit things. The higher pressure also doesn’t allow the tire to flex. This is when a lot of punctures happen.
Inflate your tires before every ride!
Clean your bike. A clean bike is a happy bike, and a happy bike goes fast.
Especially your chain. Not only does this reduce friction, it also lengthens the lifespan of many parts on your bike.
Hope these tips help gain some free speed for some of you!
Safe riding!
Heave Ho!!!
I’ll explain later.
Real short race. Seemed especially short since the last three races I have done have been a 1/2 IM. Long Course, and an OLy.
I had a long week of training prior to this race to try and consolidate the fitness gains I had made during and after peterborough. Left me a bit sluggish. I was not in a real racey mood.
That is until the gun went off. I pushed hard in the swim. It burnt pretty bad until about half way, and I really found a groove. I was motoring, and not using too much energy. Out of the water I was in the top 10 overall.
Swim: 11:09
On to the bike, facing the beast of the east. It is a tough climb, but after watching the tour, it is nothing! PAced it well up the climb. I need to focus on remaining seated even on the steep bits. I really am way more efficient that way. I did this on the last pitch of the climb and felt great. Lost a few spots, but managed to gain most of them back.
I pushed hard on the bike. Harder than I have pushed all year. It felt great. I knew that if I pushed until we got to the downhill back down the escartment and freewheeled it back I should be able to recover well. Everytime I looked down I was doing over 42kmph. A little suprised at the average of 34.8, but I guess that is a result of the hill.
Bike: 40?
Blew in and out of t2 in 0:35 seconds. Which was a goal for this race. I wanted to cut a bit of time there. Turns out that this was important!
Onto the run. I thought I was in first place so I was booking it. I pushed hard right out of the gate and it hurt. The body was not responding well. I think I should have taken a gel on the bike.
Anyways, Managed to keep the legs turning over OK, but it was a big struggle. By the last couple of KM I was really spent, but I didn’t want to get passed so I just kept pushing.
Run 27:30
Just as I crossed the line all of a sudden my stomach decided to void itself of what little was in there. I went right to the garbage pail at the end of the shoot and let ‘er rip. THis is the first time this has ever happened to me!
Felt great afterwards. I’m not sure quite why this happend, but it did.
My favourite line was “Excuse me, you need to take of your chip, oops, when your ready!”
he he.
The weird thing is that this little girl stood a couple of feet away watching me hurl. It was weird.
I came second in my AG and 14th overall. My best overall showing to date. More importantly I finished 5 seconds in front of the person I am racing for the overall in my AG so I extended my lead by a little.
It was a perfect day in Muskoka for a race. Warm and overcast to start. The temps never became an issue at all during the day which is in stark contrast to last year!
The best part of Muskoka is that you get to race against some of the best triathletes in the world. It makes for a really exciting atmosphere. Everything is kinda electric.
Right from the start I had scheduled Muskoka as a B race. In reality it was more of a b-. I wanted to get some points, and have a strong race in prep for peterborough. I didn’t want to get into a position where I was expecting a great result and came up against the competition who where peaking here trying to get a spot at an IM.
My goal was to have a good strong race with a focus on running well.
I don’t think I have ever been so relaxed at a race! It was great. No butterflies/nothing. I racked up, and did a quick warm-up run. I didn’t take the bike off the rack in fear of losing my spot! Put on the new Aquaman westuit (carefully!) and headed down to the swim exit. I took a nice leasurely swim down the channel to the swim start. I recomend this to anyone doing the race next year as it is a great way to get away from the crowds, and not have to walk the distance to the start.
I started in the second wave after the elite men. Immediately I caught a draft off of one of the front guys in my group. I held him until the back stretch of the swim when we started passing the first wave. I then managed to position myself behind a (big)guy from my wave who was finding a good route through the lapers. Had the goggles knocked off once, but not too bad.
Once we hit the channel it opened up. The white caps seemed to all stay left with the purple going right. I had a strong draft the whole way up river (which is very important). I never felt like I was working hard on the swim. It was a very cruisy one for me. I knew I was pacing OK, but it wasn’t requiring that much effort. Maybe the new suit ?
Out of the water in 29:53. Good time. I think I can easily go sub 29 at peterborough.
Good transition. Nice and smooth. Once again the wetsuit came off like a breeze!
Onto the bike. The MO for the bike was a nice conservative effort. I was well aware of the amount of hills on the course this year, and I didn’t want to overdo it. I rode well within myself which was a great feeling because I was still moving. I really focused on my shifting and maximizing momentum. Got to the aid station feeling great. Chuged the rest of the gatorade and water and reloaded. Only to lose the gatorade they gave me within a km. I was slightly concerned, but know that I normally ride this distance with only three bottles so I should be fine. Ended up not being an issue. GLad it wasn’t too hot though.
The hills were pretty bad on the back section of the bike. Some of the new slurry sections were very sketchy because you couldn’t see the bumps. Nice that they put the effort in though for this race. Very interesting ride. Thought it was challenging but fun.
Off the bike in 133: AVG. 35.6kmph
I was aiming36 so that was ok.
Another good transition.
Started the run feeling pretty good. I wanted to focus on setting a good comfortable pace until the heart rate came down, and then start pushing a bit. My side started cramping a bit after about 3km. However, whenever I let my mind wander from the pain, it went away. No big deal. It kept coming back a bit throughout the run.
I was running well, and the body started to really feel good about the 8 or 9km mark. I started to push a bit harder. There was a guy behind my from my AG that I passed earlier coming up on me, and I set the goal of keeping him at bay. He ended up passing me at the 12 km mark. I knew he was working harder than I was so I just stayed right behind him. When we hit the 13km mark I was feeling really good even on the hills. So I decided to see what I had left and really kicked. I put almost 500m between myself and that guy in the final 2km. I was flying! I couldn’t believe how well I was running at the end. I guess this is the first race that is approaching the distance that I am training for. So that is a great boost of confidence for me.
Run : 1:03 4:13?
Overall 3:07. About 40 min. faster than last year!
I ended up 7th in my AG. Which was Ok. More importantly I have really boosted my comfidence for Peterborough. I now have a prooven strategy for the distance, and we will se what I can do! Really stoked to go long.
Milton has a great challenging course. The hill on the bike is a challenge, and the run also features a number of hills.
My day started out allright. A bit of nerves, but otherwise O.K. I wasn’t too sure of myself as I was having a bit of a Blah week. I was ready to chalk this on
e up as a learning experience!
However, once I got there, and met up with everyone, I quickly caught the fever.
The swim is a nice loop in a small lake at the kelso conservation area. The water was warm (atleast 70) and was a pleasure to dip into to get out of the heat.
I bumped myself up to the elite wave to avoid the slower swimminers I would have to pass.
I started right beside Carlos Robles fellow running free athlete, and the Guembels. The MO for the day was to see where the swim was at compared to the rest of the field.
I started strong and was able to stay clear of any craziness. I tried to keep the leaders within site. For the most part I managed this. I think I was 7th or 8th out of the water. I wasn’t particularily pleased with my breathing on the swim, and next time I need to focus on getting a better rythm. It is hard to on these short swims.
SwimL 10:34
I had a bit of trouble in T1 with my suit catching on my watch and timing chip. A little slow. Next time I am going to try and keep the watch under the sleeve, same goes for the timing chip.
The gravel in T1 was harsh. I ended up wusing out and left some sandals at the swim exit. I think that was a good move.
Onto the bike. The body handled the transition OK. Which is good since this is the first such transition it has made this year.
Hit the hill, and was wishing for my other cassette. From last year I knew that a lot of people attacked the hill and burnt out after it. I decided to pace myself up it (regardless of who was passing) and push once we topped out. This worked pretty well. I managed to catch all 4 riders who passed me on the hill including kyle vanbuerden. The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. I ended up riding near two of the top women. They were pushing each other hard, and I got caught up in it. Went a bit harder than I would have planned but OK.
I did have someone from my old AG draft off of me after I blew by him. I didn’t notice him for a while. I wasn’t happy. He shall remain nameless.
BIke: 47:00 37.5 avg
T2 was uneventful. SHould have taken a Gu on the bike, but the tummy wasn’t dealing with the heat that well. I knew that the run was going to be painfull.
The run starts with a punchy little climb immediately out of transition. It hurts. It then winds its way out of Kelso onto the road where you proceed to run up hill until you turn around in a small park. Benefit is, it is almost all downhill on the way home!
I pretty much blew up on the run. The GI track was rebelling. I was really just in damage control mode then. I took it slow for the first couple of km. I notched it up a bit after I started getting the old HR under control.
Overall not a great run.
32:23
Total 1:32:?
I managed 2nd in my AG, and 25th overall. I know that I probably could have taken a couple of minutes off of the run, but for a C race this was a good result. Just racking up the points for an overall AG win.
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