New York City US paratriathlon Championships

Last Sunday I found myself wetsuited up sitting on a pontoon strapped to Ryan, getting ready to jump into the Hudson River. I can honestly say I never thought I would swim in the Hudson. It is a combination of murky and a little salty. Cleaner than I was expecting.

Now the major benefit of swimming in the hudson is that there is a lot of current.

The few days before the start were hectic. We drove down on friday and got in late after sitting in traffic trying to get on the island. We were tired and the nerves were a little frayed from the New York traffic.

Saturday was registration day. We sat through the PC briefing and went and got our kits. We were staying at the official hotel which was probably 4km from transition. This was a bit tough as we had a long tandem bike. We were not confident enough to ride in NYC traffic so we had to walk down to transition. Because of the location of the transition zone noone was allowed to stop their cars and drop off their stuff. A large hastle for us. As a result this took us the majority of the day. We got back in time for dinner and took a bus tour in the evening.

Sunday morning was early. Transition closed at 5:45 when the pro's started. We managed to get there with just enough time to finish setting up. We were racked next to Aaron Scheidies. The world's fastest paratriathlete. He has a similar visual condition to Ryan so they are natural competitors. He is a super cool kid. I suggest googleing him to see what he is about.

There was over a 1500m walk to the swim start. The para triathletes were situated in the pro tent which is cool. Just simplifies things.

We got the call to head to the pontoon. We ended up sitting there for a while as they were leaving a gap before the second group of racers went.

We were given a 30sec warning and were told to jump in and grap a rope. The current was super strong. The gun sounded and we were off. We knew that we would be amongst the faster swimmers in this wave so we pushed from the start. The swim is a straight shot downstream so sighting is a none issue. We were alone pretty much the whole time. Out of the water in around 17:00. That demonstrates the powerr of the current.

The bike starts out with a short downhill serction with two sharp rights followed by a steep hill up to the expressway. This was super technical for a tandem but we managed it well. We were now free to fly. I haf decided that I was going to bury myself on the bike as I knew that is where I could help the most. We caught up to the wave infront of us pretty much right away. We were flyinh by these slower cyclists. It was quite busy out there. It was a neat bike course as the closed the expressway on the west coast for us to race on. It was a hilly course, but fast. I was hoarse by the end from constantly yelling "on your left".

Into T2 I was a little torched from the effort. We changed quickly and climbed the hill out of the transition area. Ryan was pushing hard at this point. It took my body a while to come around. I actually felt pretty crappy for the whole run. It took a lot more effort this time to stay on Ryans shoulder.

The run through Central Park was cool(actually very very humid) this played havoc with my digestion. We continued to pass a ton of people. Only one person caught us from the wave that started after us. Ryan was flying, and I was surviving. I was going to bury myself before I slowed him down. We got to the finshing chute (which was crowded) and crossed the line in 2:18,second in his category. We acheived all of his goals so this was a very successful outing.

It was a fun race to do, but I won't do it again. Logostically it is too hard.

I would like to thanks Ryan and Mindy for giving me the opportunity to race in NYC with Ryan. It is a really neat experience, and I look forward to what the future holds!

Ryan's Peterborough Report (from swimbikerunryan.blogspot.com)

Mission Accomplished--"Hey isn't that cheating?"

"Hey, isn't that cheating?"

"No fair..."

"Oh man, 4 legs, you guys look great.."

"Hey, that's drafting..."

All of the above were utterances during my first paratriathlon last Sunday in Peterborough. ALL were said in joking fashion and great supportive manner, by fellow athletes. All were said on the bike as we rolled, seemingly "cheatinginly easy" past them up and down the steep rollers of the Peterborough 1/2 Ironman. A 2 km swim, followed by a 85 km bike ride (which is supposed to be 90), followed by a hilly 21.1km half marathon run. This was my 5th half Ironman of my career, my third time back to Peterborough, but my first paratriathlon--a new beginning.

Today i want to give you a brief (hopefully) recap of the days events; last week i gave you a taste of what the mood surrounding the event was like. The fact that i was a beginner, for the second time... As mentioned this was my third time back to this race, but standing race morning on the shore with 500 other athletes, tethered to my guide Syd...this felt much different. All pre-race buildup and preparation was much the same as any other race i've done, but as i said, standing tethered with our 4 foot bungee cord between us--Syd and I were embarking on something very new to both of us. Syd standing 2 inches taller then me, is a imposing figure, and made me feel that he gave the air of "stay out of our way" to the rest of the gang. This was comforting, heading into the water which was the most stressful for me. Swimming is not usually stressful, i love the beat and bang and push and shove of an open water swim; but not this day when i was very worried that i would snag somebody in our line, injure, drown or in a mild case just REALLY tick them off. Therefore the 2km swim i must admit was the most stressful swim i have ever done in my entire life, far trumping any Ironman mass start with 4 times as many people. My stress and fears were unfounded though, as we never snagged a single person, Syd was a perfect body guard as he is an amazing swimmer, and we managed out effort in a slow and uncomfortable 38:45. Uncomfortable because i can swim a good bit faster, and Syd must've been taking a nap, as this was far below his pace...but safety was the key.

Through transition and onto the bike---we had ridden the previous week together, and i trusted Syd had a handle literally and figuratively on the bike situation, so i was relieved and comforted to get out in my element (the bike) even if it was on the back of our Griffen tandem rocket!
Rolling smoothly and to much crowd support, out of T1, dressed in our matching Rudy Project helmets and matching TEAM RUNNING FREE uniforms (an awesome running store in the GTA that become my newest sponsor, and has been sponsoring Syd and his wife for a while).. Syd and i settled into a easy pace. Our goal was to take it slow until halfway then drop the hammer. We kept a methodical pace until the halfway point, passing everyone in sight (see above for comments recieved along the way). To my surprise the support was amazing, and truth be told i did feel guilty passing people with such ease, as this would not happen quite so smoothly if i were riding on my own. However, we rolled past a couple hundred people and made our way to the pointy end of the field. By half way, we were both feeling ok, but our "undersides" and my lower back, were both feeling the harshness that is a tandem bike ride. You feel ever bump, and every vibration--and we are riding probably the nicest tandem bike ever made! On that way back, we found ourselves quite alone...the leaders were ahead, but most others were behind, and we just rolled along, more in silence due to our upped effort. We were both relieved to get off the bike at the end, giving our bodies a break from the slightly uncomfortable ride. 2:29:00 later, with an average of 34 km/h, we arrived to a fairly empty T2.

Not having been totally trained for this event, and suffering a bit of an injury, my goal was to run as much of the half marathon as possible, and just see how it went. I really didn't have any specific time goals for the whole day, so it was just a matter of plugging away. During the first very shady section, Syd ran in front of me (where the pictures were taken), and i followed along like a good little puppy dog:) When out onto the open road, we ran side by side, Syd pointing out any road flaws, pylons, etc. This will take some more practice, but really all went well. I am pleased to say i managed to run the entire 21km (only impressive due to the fact the hills were killing me)...it is so hard running hills when you don't run them around here. We pushed harder the last 4-6 km, i was suffering, and Syd was cruising. He lives and trains on those hills, so this was simple for him. Pushing really hard the last 2km, we turned into the park, Syd and i grabbed hands, turned the final corner to the finish where Syd raised our hands in victory, saw the clock read 5:11:xx (which was my second fastest half Ironman ever), i dropped, rolled for ALS....and that was that.

Even thought the bike course was short, it was still a fast enough race for me..i was very pleased with the effort and very thankful to Syd for his help. This guy lives and breathes triathlon (even more then I), and his presence and help that day really helped me out. Our next adventure is in two weeks in New York City, with an Olympic distance triathlin which happens to be the USA National Paraytriathlon Championships. This will give me a good idea of where i stand in terms of others in my category (as I was the only visually impaired athlete in Peterborough). I am looking forward to the new experience and the new tandem career. It isn't the same as going alone, but it is still suprisingly, familiarly, satisfying.
A huge congratulations to local fellow C-K athletes Jason Ramboer who absolutely hammered his first half Ironman in a 4:41 time, Brennan his brother in the half Duathlon, Helen Robertson of Chatham in a very respectable time, and Helen's daughter Helinka who also had a solid day.

So off to training i go, getting ready for the fast and furious NYC triathlon! Thanks to Running Free for the great gear, Rudy Project, Syd, my wife, Smith's Cycle, and everyone who's help got me to the starting line of my new career. And thanks CKDP for letting me tell my story, my hope for Sunday was to turn some heads, and get some people thinking.....No matter what your abilities, set that goal, and go for it, and NEVER underestimate somebody based on their age, sex, religion, disability or athletic ability; for as soon as you do this, is the time they will leave you in a cloud of dust.

Peterborough 1/2 as a guide.

I participated in the peterborough 1/2 IM this year as a guide for Ryan Van Praet a PC (physically challenged - blind) athlete from Chattam.

This was an exciting opportunity for me.  I have done many things in this sport of triathlon and nothing quite like this.  It was a true team effort.

Ryan has competed in triathlon for many years and has raced at all distance including a couple attempts at IM.  This was his first race as a PC athlete.  His vision has gotten to a point where he can't race by himself.

We had practiced on the tandem a few times, but we had yet to swim or run together.

The morning of peterborough we got set up in transition.  The OAT and subaru guys were excellent at helping us get set up in transition.  They had to make a whole new category for him to race in.  

The swim was going to be interesting as we were tethered together and it was a mass start.  We took a concervative line and waited for the majority of the field to go.  I think this was a bit of a mistake as we then had to pass a ton of slow swimmers.  This was difficult.  The swimmers in the middle/back of the pack have trouble swimming straight.  So I ended up acting as a bodyguard for most of the swim.  We probably took a few extra minutes because of this.  It ended up ok though.  It was an interesting practice.  I think in NYC we will be more aggressive.

We got out of the water and took our wetsuits off.  The run to transition is a little long so it was tough navigating our way there.  An easy transition and we were off on the bike.  Having a relatively slow swim, but both of us being good cyclists meant that we were moving quite a lot faster than the rest of the riders around us.  We were flying.  The tandem is an interesting experience.  You really need to learn how to communicate well.  I needed to vocalize everything, from bumps in the road, to turns, to when either of us wanted to coast.  

Things were feeling good on the tough bike course.  We were getting lots of interesting comments and stares as we flew by many cyclists.  

The biggest problem with the tandem is that it is a rough ride.  Your butt gets really sore.  We ended up coasting a lot on hills on the way back to try and relieve some pressure on our rears.  

We finished up the bike a lot closer to the front of the pack than we started.  We had passed atleast a hundred athletes.

T2 was a bit faster.  We headed out on the run.  It heads through the park and soccer fields.  This was a challenging section for Ryan as he can't see anything in low light.  I really had to let him know about every dip on the course.  Once we were onto the roads it was easier.  They are smoother and we were able to pick up the pace.  This was a challenging course for Ryan as he is from the flattest part of this province.  Peterborough is a hilly course on the bike and run.  I live in this terrain so it is second nature to me.  He did really well considering this.

We managed to pick a solid pace and hold it.  Ryan told me not to tell him splits or where we were on the run course.  This was fun, because I knew that we were way in front of our goal of going 5:30.  He didn't.  He thought we were on pace for the goal.  I said nothing until we hit the finishing straight when I told him the time.  Ryan did a roll accross the finish line in honour of his father who passed from ALS and in support of the Blazeman foundation which he is very active with.

We finished in 5:11.  This was a great time for us and way infront of our goal.  We were very conservative early on so this is a great confidence builder going into the PC champs in NYC.  

I had a blast, and am really looking forward to racing in New York and next year possibly at the Ironman distance.

24 er 12 hrs of summer solstice

This was to be my first attempt (and most likely last) at competing in a solo 24 hr mtb race. Training had been going ok, and I knew that if I paced myself properly I would have a good race. I wasn't expecting any fast performance, but I just wanted to ride the majority of the time.

The forecast had been looking bleak over the previous weeks, and raceday didn't disappoint! We started during a light drissle. A huge pack of over a 1000 riders started off. I positioned myself middle back to allow myself an easy start. It was a slow first lap as the packs thinned out. By the second half we were able to ride without any back-ups. The rain was stopping at this point and the trails were in decent condition.

The second lap was awesome. I was feeling fantastic just cruising around trying to be as smooth as possible. I was working on getting the best lines down as I knew that would help me in the late hours of the race. The conditions were mucky and by the end of the second lap my brake pads were toast. They weren't new. I made a quick stop and changed them out.

The third lap was a different story. The first 2.5km of trails had been chewed to pieces by all the riders. It was virtually impossible to ride that section. The mud was clay and stuck to your bike, eventually keeping your wheels from turning and adding 30pds! However, the 2nd half of the course was in good shape. I took a break for food after this long lap.

The fourth lap was much better. The trail was drying up and by the end I was able to get in a rythym again. The laps had been really slow and dusk was a couple of hrs off so I decided to stop and put on my lights. Good move. Over the last few km of the 4th lap, the rain started again slowly. By the time I got back on my bike it was pouring. This destroyed all of the improvements and took the good parts and turned them bad.

The RD's had taken the first part of the course out because it was unridable. I thought this would solve the problems. Nope! I ended up walking 90% of the 5th lap. Stopping every fee hundred meters to remove pds of mud. It was insane!!! I have never ridden/hiked in anything like it before. The 13km lap took me over 2hrs! I should've been able to ride it in 40min!

At the end of that lap it was nearing 10pm. I decided that I was going to wait a bit to let things dry out again before I went back out, and I had worn through another set of brake pads. I went down to the sporting life booth, and they were sold out of pads. They were waiting on a shippment from their store. I decided to grab some warm food from the chalet. As I was sitting there eating with some friends word came in that they were cancelling the race at midnight. I then debated heading out for another lap, but common sense prevailed. Stories of horrid laps were comming in left, righ, and center. The memory of my last lap was still fresh as well.

So that was that. I went to sleep! It was an interesting experience. I am humming and hawing on whether I want to give it another shot. We'll see. Props to the Chico guys for trying hard to keep the race going, and for having the guts to shut it down when they realized how much damage we were doing to the trails. Great organization, bad weather.

Milton Sprint 2009

FAST!!

All the bike training definetely paid in Milton. I had no real idea of were I stood compared to the rest of my AG, but I knew that I was pretty fit. Been doing a lot of cycling in prep. for the 24hrs solo mtb race I am doing in june, so the bike legs are on right now.

It was COLD in the morning. Spent most of the time in transition wondering why I was going to be jumping in the water when it was 8 degrees out. Not so concerned about the actual water temps, more with the fact that I would have to ride in the cold air wet after. Not too mention the 30kph headwind we would face on the way out!

Got in the water and it was actually ok. Warmer than the air. Did a good warm-up and settled in for my second wave start. There are a few awesome swimmers in my AG(ex nat. team swimmers) so I don't try to hold on to them anymore, but I found a good groove early and held it. In the past I pushed super hard on the swim here and suffered on the run because of it. Because there weren't any swimmers directly in front of me, I eased off a bit more. A little slower, but felt great coming out of the water and at the beginning of the bike. I was able to put the power down from the word go! I didn't just feel good, I felt great!

Now, about half an hour into my drive in the morning I remembered that I didn't swap out my 21 cassette on the disc before the race. This is normally all I need for most races, but there is a little hill in Milton that requires something a little easier. So, I knew the hill would be tough, but I figured I could gut it out.

I was realing in the other people from my wave, and the first wave pretty quickly. Got to the hill, and obviously was pushing a much higher gear than everyone else. I blew by 10 people climbing. By the last steep pitch at the top, I was out of the saddle and grinding to get up over the last few meters, but I did it. Thanks to all of the MTB training, my recovery from these sorts of efforts is pretty good right now. I settled back in and pushed. I was making good time everywhere. Passed everyone who was infront of me out of the water before the decent back down the hill, and managed too gap the second guy in my AG (first place went in the elite wave) by 30 seconds or so. I think he pushed hard to try and stay with my which might have burnt him out a bit.

I managed to hit 83.6kph coming down the hill which is a new record for me! It was a little sketchy, but not too bad.

Came into T2 feeling pretty good about the ride, but a little wary of how the run was going to go, as I haven't been running much to heal my achilles which I strained in a 5km race a month ago.

Out of T2 there is a really steep punchy series of hills. Tough to get a rythym going. I was feeling a little off, and my feet were numb. I kept waiting for someone to catch me, but noone did. By the time we got off of the trails and onto the road I was starting to feel better. The out road section was really windy. I could see the next placed guy about 1min. back so I knew I had to keep pushing. By the time we hit the forest section my legs were truly under me again. I was feeling great. I started to push the pace to see if I could open a gap. It is hard to tell where anyone is in the forest so I just assumed they were gaining on me. Coming out of the forest and onto the road I still didn't know where anyone was. Before we headed back into the last section of trails I noticed a pair behind me about 400m back that were gaining. I thought they were the two others in my AG. So I started to get scared that they might get me. I pushed a little harder.

Coming out of the trail into the parking lot I noticed that one of the runners was really gaining on me, and had the same suit on as the guy I was worried about. It was on. I started to push really hard into the line. Crossed the line about 100m infront of HER! It wasn't him. Turns out I had put a fair amount of time into him on the run. It was the second overall female from the first wave who was gaining. So, I buried myself for nothing, other than to not be passed by a girl!

Didn't know exactly where I stood at this point, but knew I was top 3. Turns out Matt Reid was in the first wave, and blew me out of the water by 6min. Damn he is fast.

Second is good, especially to him. More over, I am very pleased how I felt in the race. Normally I want to vommit during sprints, I just felt strong today.

Now some more cycling then 24hrs of MTB'ing, then peterborough 1/2 the next weekend! Should be interesting!

Legacy 5km

A bunch of us decided to drop in on this race to see if we could win the team title. Since RF is a big sponsor and helps put on the race, it only seemed fitting.

I jumped in on a whim. Haven't done a 5km race in . .. . well, I don't remember how long, so I thought it would be fun. It was! Despite the rain.

Met up with the RF guys and we pumped ourselves up for a good performance.

Lined up at the front, and awaited the gun. No gun, just a count down and miss timed horn from a fire truck! Oh well.

Headed off fast, got to 1km about 30sec before I wanted too. Seems to be the habit of late.

Managed to hold a relatively steady pace for the rest of the race despite the body wholey rejecting the effort from about 3km on.

Ran with or just behind two team mates for the majority of the race. I think we finished 4,5,6,10, 21 overall, which solidly put us in the lead in the team race. I somehow managed to win my AG, which was enitrely unexpected, and to run an 18:20. So quite happy with that.

It was a fun race. The timing was a little screwed up, and we haven't got out awards yet, but it was fun!

Around The Bay 2009

There is not enough swimming and biking in this road racing game for me.

So, I somewhat randomly picked 2:15 as a good goal for myself. I figured I could come close to that. It wasn't until near the start that I was told that I would get a shiny silver metal if I did it under 2:15. I like silver.

Training up to the race was somewhat sporadic. Got some good long runs in, but nothing at any sort of hard pace. Felt ok coming into the race though.

We caught a ride with the 'running maniacs' from bomanville on their bus which was awesome. They had arranged that we could get our race packages the morning of as a group. That was fantastic. They were a fun bunch to hang out with on the ride down. Got to Copps and checked out the finish line. I did the relay here a few years ago, and ran the finishing leg. I really think it is one of the neatest finishing lines I have ever crossed.

The Start. So, I turned on my GPS and waited for it to aquire a signal. It was taking a while. I didn't realize until the start that it had completely frozen. It wouldn't even let me turn it off and restart.

So as the gun sounded and I tried to start my stopwatch, it wouldn't go. I was running on instinct alone. (apprently my instinct sucks)I got into a comfortable stride which I was hoping was near the 4:30 pace I wanted to start at. As I came accross the 10km mat I was almost 2min. ahead of that. Oops.

Over the next few km my quads started to tighten up due to the cold. Nothing serious at the time, but I knew that I would be hurting by the end. I had caught up with Jon very early on. I knew what his goal was and had thought that I should hang out with him. For some reason I decided to pass him and keep up with my pace. In hindsight I should've stuck with him. My normal conservative start went out the window.

I tried to ease off a bit, but with no reference I was a little in the dark. I asked a few people around me what the splits were at a few points, but it was kind of hard to really get much from that.

Around 16km, my quads really started to hurt. It wasn't affecting my pace or stride too much at that point, but at only the half way point I was hurting too much to be good.

Through 20km I was still ahead of the pace I was hoping for, but at this point, I thought that the buffer was going to be important if I still wanted to get sub 2:15.The rollers came as a bit of relief. I am really good at running down hill, and can usually recover pretty well. So I held my pace comfortably throughout. Even the big hills didn't really bother me.

Jon came flying by at some point in here looking super strong. He had paced himself well. I tried to pick it up to go with him, but it didn't happen.

Around 24km I really was starting to hurt. It was a big mental game from that point on. Cresting the last hill, I was hoping to be able to turn it up a notch on the way back home. It didn't happen. It was more survival. I couldn't lengthen my stride out at all as my quads were on fire. I uped my cadence as much as I could, but I was getting passed a lot!I was just hoping not to see the bunny catch up to me.

If I had had a watch, I would've realized I had enough time but I didn't.At pretty much exactly 1km to go a small group caught me. My heart sunk as I saw rabbit ears. At that point I committed to absolutely burying myself to beat him in. I was this close to that shiny silver medal that I wasn't going to let it slip away. I just pushed with all I had. It was probably the hardest 1km I have done in my life. I put some distance on him and held it. Turns out that he was about 30sec. ahead of 2:15 on the gun. So I had a little leeway.

2:14:29 on the gun and a shiny silver medal. I was toast. After the race my knee locked up as a result of my muscles being so tight in my quads. I ripped the hell out of them in the cold. I am still gimping around today.

So there you have it. It was my first Around the Bay, and the longest running race I have done (outside of Ironman). I honestly am in more pain than after Ironman. If I had paced better I would probably not have hurt myself so bad. I'm not sure if a funcitoning watch would've helped.

I am happy with the time, just not how I got there. Good mental exercise though. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?

Allright, I am going to gimp off to the gym now, and do some stretching and light upper body work. I probably won't be able to run for a few more days yet.

It is now biking season. No more long runs for a while!

S