TRI FOR DAKOTA

Hopefully, most of you already know about the Tri for Dakota, but if not, please visit the site and have a read. Tammy and Colin have been long-time supporters of triathlon in Ontario; I first met Tammy back in 1996 or 1997 when she worked for OAT and I was involved with officiating TriSport races. Tammy left OAT when she and Colin moved to Kingston for work, but they always stayed involved, volunteering their time at races, and staying connected to the community. Over the years, Colin and Tammy have been huge supporters of the sport of triathlon in Ontario, which is pretty remarkable considering they didn't have kids racing, and they only did their first triathlons after volunteering for several years (most volunteers either have family members who race, or are avid triathletes themselves). This year, Tammy and Colin dedicated themselves to completing the Peterborough half-ironman, and raising money for the Sunnybrook Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Perinatal Research Fund. So far they've raised $9,622.00, and they have a goal of $10,000. 

Junior triathlete Karsten Madsen has taken up the cause and will be racing the Guelph Lake 2 triathlon this weekend in support of their fundraising efforts. 

Read their story, and consider helping them achieve their goal. It seems only fair that the triathlon community would support two people who have given so much of their time and effort to the sport. 

Best of luck to Karsten on the weekend.

NEW PTC TRAINING PROGRAM

My favourite Tuesday night TV.

(This one's not as good as the first clip, but the scene at 6:51 is worth it)

NATIONAL JUNIOR SERIES - FINAL RANKING

The final National Junior Series Rankings are up:

WOMEN'S TOP 10

1. Christine Ridenour (BC) 250 pts

2. Rachael Edwards (SK) 240 pts

3. Marianne Hogan (QC) 210 pts

4. Sarah-Anne Brault (MB) 200 pts

5. Alexandra Coates (BC) 174 pts

6. Lindsay Anderson (ON) 157 pts

7. Dorelle Hinton (ON) 155 pts

8. Paula Findlay (AB) 125 pts

9. Stevie Moore (MB) 122 pts

10. Rebecca Staynor (BC) 116 pts

MEN'S TOP 10

1. Matt Sharpe (BC) 265 pts

2. Matt Vierula (ON) 255 pts

3. Jeff Phillips (BC) 216 pts

4. Mark Okany (MB) 210 pts

5. Cole Steward (BC) 205 pts

6. Ian Donald (ON) 190 pts

7. Joel Howlett (SK) 167 pts

8. Francois Hogan (QC) 130 pts

9. Joshua Drad (MB) 124 pts

10. Taylor Lick (BC) 103 pts

Full Junior Men's Rankings here.

Full Junior Women's Rankings here.

Congrats to all athletes and coaches.

2008-2009 TRAINING DAYS

The 2008-2009 Training Day schedule has been set, and posted on the OAT website: "Athletes" --> "Games Programmes" --> "Canada Games" --> "Training Group" (if you could find that on your own, you can probably find the lost city of Atlantis).

One important note for athletes and parents: After a long triathlon season, the first priority should be to schedule some down-time for the athletes. For some athletes, that will take place now (late August), while others will take a few weeks off in September or October. I strongly encourage everyone to schedule a few weeks (2-3) off from training, or at least off from structured training. If that means you have to miss a training day, don't worry about it - we have one every month.

Training Day Dates

Sunday October 19th, 2008

Sunday November 2nd, 2008

Sunday November 30th, 2008

Sunday January 4th, 2009

Sunday February 1st, 2009

Sunday March 1st, 2009 - CANCELLED

Sunday April 5th, 2009

Sunday May 3rd, 2009

NOTE: The Nov 2nd weekend is also the weekend of OFSAA x-country.

These dates are for Training Days hosted at the Provincial Triathlon Centre, at the University of Guelph. We expect to also offer training days in Ottawa again this year, and we'll post an update when things are finalized.

TO REGISTER

All athletes need to fill out a registration form, regardless of whether they have attended Training Days or Camps in the past. Once the forms are complete, athletes/parents simply have to send an e-mail confirming their attendance for the next training day. Registration forms are available here. E-mail them to me when they are complete.

FEE

Unlike previous years, we did not receive a grant to run this program this year - funding can be a blessing and a curse - so we will have to charge all athletes a $20 fee.

ELIGIBLE ATHLETES

We will have three separate training groups at the training days, roughly split as: Group 1) 16-20yrs, Group 2)12-15yrs, Group 3) 10-12yrs. We will modify the groups further at each training day in order to match athletes to the group that suits them best.

FORMAT

Group 1 and Group 2 will Swim, Bike and Run, with an additional core session. These groups will swim at the same time, but bike and run separate from one another. Group 3 will swim and run, with a core session. After the first 2 or 3 Training Days, we will evaluate the possibility of a bike session for this group.

PARENT GROUP

Last year we experimented with the idea of a Parent Training Group at the Training Days. I'd like to get back to that, but not until after the first or second training day, to make sure things are running smoothly. Parents are more than welcome to bring their training gear and ride the rural roads surrounding UofG, or run in the Aboretum, but we won't have any formal programming for parents at the first training days.

Further info is available in the registration package.

COACHING PHELPS

Coach reveals tricks used to prepare Phelps
By Julian Linden

BEIJING, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The first time Bob Bowman met Michael Phelps he knew instantly he had discovered the once in a lifetime swimmer every coach dreams about. Phelps was just 11 at the time but Bowman was so excited by his incredible athleticism and untapped potential that he was unable to sleep that night.

-----------

It's not a great article, but there are two important messages that will probably be lost on the casual reader:

1. All great coaches start somewhere, and most (all?) have the objectivity to realize the areas in which they have to improve their coaching, in order to get the most out of their athletes.

2. Letting kids make mistakes and 'fail' during the course of their development will ultimately make them better athletes (and people).



Full article here.

COBOURG TRI

As the season winds down, Dorelle and Ang decided to have a crack at the Cobourg Tri over the weekend. Dorelle raced in her first Olympic distance race on Saturday, finishing first among all female competitors, and tied for 6th overall. Ang already has some Olympic distance experience, so she raced the sprint on Sunday, winning the U20 category, and finishing 9th overall. Well done team!

Congrats also to Derek Quick (coached by Dan McKerral) for his overall win in the sprint (first overall win, I think), and coach Crystal Drummond (1st female in the sprint, and 6th overall).

Olympic results here.

Sprint results here.

L-R: Angela, Dorelle and Marianne Hogan (QC) out of the water at Nationals

2 MINUTES FOR UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

...actually, a lifetime ban for the athlete and the coach.

CBC Sports

Aug. 23, 2008

Taekwondo athlete Angel Matos of Cuba received a lifetime ban after kicking the referee in the face following his disqualification in a bronze-medal match Saturday at the Beijing Games.

Matos's coach Leudis Gonzalez was also hit for a lifetime ban in response to the incident that took place at the end of the men's over-80 kg bout.

Full article here.

REWIND and RECOGNIZE

With the Olympic Triathlons and Canadian Nationals on the same weekend, I didn't really do justice to some of the racing we saw in Kelowna last week. So let's rewind a bit, and recognize some great racing (with an Ontario and PTC bias, of course) - I hope I can remember most of it.....

JUNIOR RACES

The Juniors raced on Saturday, and they ended up with the hottest conditions of the weekend. Pre-race favourite Paula Findlay (AB) took the win, with Marianne Hogan (QC) 2nd and Christine Ridenour (BC) 3rd.  Hogan made a great move into T1 and onto the bike to bridge the 10-15 sec. gap up to the lead 4 athletes.   Kyla Coates (BC) had a great swim to make the front 4 out of the water, but later crashed out in a corner.  The lead pack of 5 (and later 4) athletes proved that you can win a race on the run, but you can lose it on the swim - the podium came from that lead pack. We had four Ontario athletes in the race: Lindsay Anderson (6th), Dorelle Hinton (7th Canadian/8th overall), Angela Quick(11th/12th) and Emilie Potvin (28th/30th).  Lindsay made the chase pack and had a strong race after some tough races earlier this season. Dorelle capped off a great year - her first full year of junior racing - with a strong race from start to finish, including a ~10k solo effort on the bike.  Although Angela dropped a few places from last year's Nationals, it was a success in my books for two reasons: 1) most of Ang's races this year have been hindered (or ended) due to breathing problems thanks to a long bout of pneumonia in the spring; 2) Due to a lower seed for the start, Ang had to line up on the far left for the swim - athletes on the right had a distinctly shorter line to the first buoy, so Ang had to put in the fastest first 300m just to move over to catch the lead group. Emilie Potvin rounded out the Ontario contingent, with her first ever draft legal race, in her first year of junior racing. Congrats to all athletes.

In the Junior mens' race, there were 10 athletes from Ontario: Matt Vierula (1), Ian Donald (6), Connor Hammond(8), Alexander Hinton(13), Taylor Reid(21), Ryan Ditchfield(27), James Higgins(31), Mark Bechtel(?), Travis Goron(DNF) and Karsten Madsen(DNF).  If one word could describe the racing of these guys, it would be 'tough'; they raced in the full heat of the day and gave everything they had.  This is shaping up to be a very long post, so I'll highlight the guys who had tough days, but hung in there:  Connor showed real toughness battling the heat and hanging in for 8th after a solid swim/bike combo.  Ian Donald and Taylor Reid both had to solo most (all) of the bike - nice job pushing the pace and staying focussed. Mark Bechtel wasn't in the results (lost chip?), but he was there - he crashed at the turnaround in one of the early laps, but got back on his bike, and held on during the run, despite the road rash and bruising.  Travis Goron had the worst luck of the day - some random guy (likely one of the 50+ people who call the City Park home during the summer) walked onto the bike course, and pushed Travis off of his bike. Travis was banged up, but got back on his bike, only to be lapped out by the leaders.  Finally, Karsten didn't get a chance to light up the bike course, due to a flat.  The race directors were gracious enough to comp his entry into the AG sprint the next day - and Karsten won the race overall, despite the lack of aero bars or a time trial set-up on this bike. 

I did manage to get Matt Vierula's finish on video (see below):

ELITE/U23 RACES

The big guns raced on Sunday.  It was forecast to be hotter than Saturday, but the clouds rolled in, with an epic thunderstorm during the end of the men's run, so conditions were warm, but not as hot as Saturday. 

The Ontario athletes were a battered crew heading into this one: Rachel O'Reilly raced with a broken arm, Andrew Woegerer had a recent concussion, Andrew Yorke was getting treatment on his back 20mins before the start, and James Loaring has his nose broken in the first 50m of the swim (and kept racing!).

Both races were exciting. Paula Findlay (ON) won the women's race, effectively consolidating the Junior, U23 and Elite crowns.  Kerry Spearing (BC) took second, after a solo 40k ride, and Tenille Hoogland (ON) rounded out the podium.  In the men's race, Brent McMahon gave the field a taste of what World Cup speed looks like, claiming his first Elite national title. AP B-Smith (ON) had a solid race, finishing 2nd (1st U23), and Jordan Bryden (AB) survived a dropped chain at the bottom of the climb to finish 3rd Canadian.  Our own James Loaring had a solid race, 9th overall in the Continental Cup, and 4th Canadian, despite a broken nose that bled for the first hour of the race.  James is currently sporting two black eyes.

AGE-GROUP

We can't forget the Age-Group races, which took place on Sunday morning.  Two PTC'ers toed the line, looking for some hardware.  Adrian Delmonte took the win in the 25-29 age group, after a stellar opening swim. Tom "the Tank" Lokody also had a strong swim, exiting the water with Mike Greenberg, with a 2:15 lead over 3rd place.  Tom went on to finish 3rd in the 30-34 age group.  Well done gentlemen.  

PICTURES

I managed to take some pics over the weekend, which you can find here.

Barb Sharpe, Team BC manager and mother to Junior Men's Silver Medallist Matt Sharpe, took much better pictures than I did.  You can find them here.

Congrats to all athletes and coaches, and apologies if I've forgotten anyone. 

THE FOLLOW-UP

Some great post-race interviews, analysis and reflection.

CBC interviewed Simon in the studio after the race.

The Globe & Mail covers the team's return to Canada House, with the Silver Medal.

Most importantly, everyone should read this National Post article. When you're done, read it again. If you're serious about finding out what you can do in this sport, print it out, tape it to your wall, and read it every time you need some motivation.  

MAGIC

By now you all know that Simon won Silver in an exciting sprint finish at the Olympic Triathlon. I don't think I've ever seen a race where an athlete had to put in so many surges to move back up into contention. It was truly an awesome display of pure determination, and a performance that was easily on par with his win in Sydney in 2000.

Congrats to the entire BAMF team, coach Joel Filliol, TriCan, Colin Jenkins (!), and most importantly, Simon. It's not often in sport that an athlete welcomes that much pressure and expectation and actually delivers. For our next generation of athletes, Simon is a great example of someone who put in an immense amount of hard work, pursued excellence on a DAILY basis, and took the necessay risks to be in a position to do something incredible. It didn't always work - he had some near misses at worlds over the last few years - but he believed in himself, and when it counted most, he gave everything he had and was rewarded with a second Olympic medal. Amazing.

Maybe one of you out there will find yourself in the front pack of the Olympic Triathlon with 1k to go in four, eight, or twelve years. Anything is possible.

ps. Ian, you ALWAYS root for the home squad.

Oympics. Who called Snowsill?

I did. and it'll be Henning tonight.

-idon

UPDATES

Nationals has wrapped up for another year. There was lots of exciting racing yesterday, and most athletes will be heading home today or tomorrow. I post some pics once I get my camera battery recharged.

Quick recap of Top 5 Canadians

WOMEN

1. Paula Findlay 

2. Kerry Spearing

3. Tenille Hoogland

4. Sarah-Anne Brault

5. Rachel McBride

MEN

1. Brent McMahon

2. Andre-Paul Baillargeon Smith

3. Jordan Brydan

4. James Loaring

5. Jamie Stephenson

Congrats to our two new National Champions, and to athletes and coaches. Full women's results here. Full men's results here.

QUICK PTC NEWS

James Loaring had a strong race (4th Canadian, 9th overall), made more impressive by the fact he had his nose broken in the first few seconds of the swim. Way to be tough James!

Adrian Delmonte claimed gold in the Mens 25-29 category

Tom Lokody finished with a bronze medal in the 30-34 category.

Congrats boys.

OLYMPICS

A tough day for the Canadian women as everyone knows by now. Congrats to Carolyn, Kathy and Lauren on their efforts!

The men line up on the pontoon later today. Go Simon, Paul and Colin!

In the time it's taken me to write this, Canada has won two more silver medals (trampoline and show jumping) - not a bad start to the day. Check out this video for a great piece on SQW. Go Canada!

QUICK JR NATIONALS UPDATE

Quick recap of top 3. I'll link to results, and add some more detail, soon.


WOMEN

1. Paula Findlay (AB)
2. Marianne Hogan (QC)
3. Christine Ridenour (BC)

MEN
1. Matt Vierula (ON)
2. Matt Sharpe (BC)
3. Cole Stewart (BC)


EDIT. Results are now posted: Junior Men. Junior Women.

Congrats to all athletes and coaches.

YEAR IN REVIEW

A fun look at the year. Dorelle doesn't think the music is any good, but you can't please all of the people, all of the time.

CORRECTION

For the Junior athletes in Kelowna:

the pre-race meeting is at 4pm, so we'll run at 3:15, meet at the dolphins statue

CT.

ONTARIO SUMMER GAMES

The Ontario Summer Games Triathlon results are up. I'm currently in Kelowna, BC for Junior Nationals this weekend, so I didn't see the event, but it looks like there was some exciting racing. With only 10 seconds separating 1st and 2nd place in the boys race, and only 5 seconds separating 2nd and 3rd in the girls race, I'm sure the spectators, parents and coaches were treated to some great battles.

It looks two triathlon clubs were major factors in both race. Congratulations to the Bytown Storm Triathlon Club for taking gold in both races, and congrats to the Hamilton Hammerheads (2nd in the girls race, 3rd and 4th in the boys race).

Girls results here.

Boys results here.

The Top 3 Finishers:

1. Tristan Woodfine (Bytown Storm Triathlon Team)
2. Sean Spilsbury (HR Coaching)
3. Taylor Forbes (Hamilton Hammerheads)


1. Joanna Brown (Bytown Storm Triathlon Team)
2. Chelsea Mackinnon (Hamilton Hammerheads)
3. Kaitlyn Oliver (Speedplay)



Congrats to all athletes (and their coaches) on their performances at the first ever Ontario Summer Games Triathlon!

KELOWNA SUPPORT SCHEDULE

I'll be in Kelowna this week for Nationals, to support any/all Ontario junior athletes. I'm also available to support the Ontario elites, although I would suggest that the workouts (below) all move forward one day, to line up properly with the Sunday race (feel free to attend the sessions at the scheduled times, and we can adjust the set).

Athletes are welcome to attend some or all the sessions; please consult with your coach to choose the sessions that are right for you. I will also be on site both Saturday and Sunday to support athletes as needed. 

The schedule is below, and I've also included three important links: 

Please refer to the Kelowna Apple Triathlon Website for scheduling info, maps, etc.

If you would rather swim some of your workouts in a pool, here is a link to the closest pool.

If you need transportation from the airport to your hotel or homestay, the Kelowna Shuttle is one option. They run a van service. You can call ahead (toll free:1-877-235-6962, local: 250-765-0182) or find their kiosk when you arrive. One way travel for one person is $19 for most hotels (more for longer distance) and bike boxes are an additional $3. If there are two people traveling, the one-way fee is $11.50 per person + $3 per bike. Rates are reduced further as more passengers (to the same destination) are added.

TUESDAY
PM OYO (On Your Own) BIKE easy 30' spin to loosen up after travel


WEDNESDAY
9:30AM Meet at Swim Course. Open Water.
WU: 750mix
MS1: 12x50 (1 blast, 1 easy)
MS2: 8x100 Mid Race Pace @ 2:00
CD: 750mix

10:45AM Meet at Dolphins Fountain
BIKE Easy 45' spin on bike course


4:00PM Meet at Dolphins Fountain
RUN 35' (15' easy, 5x(1' tempo/1'easy), 10' easy)


THURSDAY
9:30AM Meet at Swim Course. Open Water
SWIM easy open water cruise, 2k aerobic

PM OFF


FRIDAY
9:30AM Meet at Swim Course. Open Water.
WU: 1 Loop course mix
MS: 4-6 beach starts + 10 strokes fast/20strokes easy
CD: 1 Loop easy

4:00PM Meet at Dolphin Fountain
RUN 30' (15' jog, drills + strides, 5' easy jog) 

OR BIKE 30' (10-15' easy, 3-4 x 0:20" with full recovery, 5' easy)

5:00PM Junior Pre-Race Meeting: Prospera Place Arena. 

Race kit pick-up after meeting.


SATURDAY

JUNIOR WOMEN
8:15AM Easy Ride to race site
8:30AM Arrive and set up Transition
8:55AM Body marking
9:05AM Swim warm-up (500-750 easy + 3-4 starts)
9:30AM RACE

JUNIOR MEN
9:00AM Easy Ride to race site
9:15AM Arrive and set up Transition
9:40AM Body Marking
9:50AM Swim warm-up (500-750 easy + 3-4 starts)
10:15AM JUNIOR MEN'S RACE

~4:00PM AWARDS

GO CANADA!

With only a few days left until the Olympic Triathlon Team heads to Beijing, there's no better way to send them off in style than to let them know you'll be cheering for them.  All of the athletes have a blog or website that you can visit to keep up to date on their adventures, and to send a message of support:

WOMEN'S TEAM
Lauren Groves
Kathy Tremblay
Carolyn Murray

MEN'S TEAM
Simon Whitfield
Paul Tichelaar
Colin Jenkins

As added incentive, and because I know you all love competition, let's make this a contest. Your job is to send all six athletes a message/comment of support between now and Thursday Aug. 14th.  For every comment you leave, I'll enter your name in a hat, and I'll draw one winner.  The winner of our little contest will get to attend the OAT Training Days at the PTC in Guelph for FREE for the 2008-2009 season.  Here are the rules:

1) Eligible training day athletes must be between 12-20years old by Dec. 31, 2009

2) Contest runs from Sun Aug 10th to Thurs Aug 14th at 11:59pm EST

3) You will get a point per comment (max 1 per olympic athlete blog).  Every point means your name in the hat; for example 6 points means we put 6 pieces of paper in the hat with your name on it, giving you a better chance to win.

4) You must leave your name (ie. John Smith, J. Smith, John S.) with the comment so I can confirm your comment.

5) You will get your name in the hat for each athlete you send a message to, but you will not get added credit for multiple messages to the same athlete. 

6) Parents, siblings and friends can also leave a comment on behalf of an eligible athlete (ie. Sue Smith for John Smith), to add to the point total.  For example, if mom, dad and little brother also leave a message for Colin Jenkins, that's three extra points, and three more chances to win the contest.

NOTES:

The men's team all have blogs, while the women's team have websites where you can leave a comment and/or send an e-mail.  If you have to send an e-mail, just cc me on the message to earn your point.

Our funding has changed for the upcoming year, and it doesn't look like we'll be able to offer the training days for FREE for targeted athletes, so this would be a great way to keep attending the training days free of charge for another year. 

Let the Games, and the Contest, begin.

QUEST FOR GOLD CRITERIA POSTED

The 2008-2009 Quest for Gold criteria are now posted on the OAT website.

LOOKING FOR A NEW BIKE?

From Scott Curry's blog.

EVEN SPLIT

As a kid, Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit were two of my favourite movies. Maybe I just really liked Burt Reynolds, but I think it was the cars and trucks, and the idea of a road trip. Since those days when The Dukes of Hazard and Knight Rider ruled Friday night TV (generally known as "pre-history" to the junior crowd), I've been on more than a few road trips. Naturally, when the opportunity presented itself to attend a Jr Series race in PEI, my first thought was "I wonder how long it would take to drive there?"  

So I rented a van, packed it to the gills with 6 teenagers and their gear, and with the help of some generous parents (thank-you Ken Madsen and the Donald family!), we struck out for the open road.   The first stop was Ottawa to pick up Ian Donald, and then a full day of driving from Ottawa to Summerside, PEI.  Four thousand kilometers later (longer than the drive from Toronto to Victoria, if I recall correctly), we're back.  We saw a lot of gas stations, rest stops and Subways along the way, but no moose. I raised some eyebrows at the rental company when I returned the van 2300+ kms over the daily allowance, but in the end it went smoothly. For the record, the drive from Ottawa to Summerside took 12:57:56, and the return trip took 12:57:55....technically a negative split, but we'll call it even. If Sean had been able to hold on a little longer, we would have posted a better return time - there were multiple rest stops in the last few hours of the trip - definite time killers. 

We're home now for a few days before leaving next week for Nationals in Kelowna.  We'll be flying for that one.

I've posted some pics from the Summerside race here. Congrats to all athletes and coaches. 

I looked everywhere for a 'bridge out' sign, but I just couldn't find one.

SUMMERSIDE UPDATE

Results are already up here. Quick notes: steady rain prior to women's race, 18 degrees, overcast and windy for both races, with roads drying through the day. Women started at 9:30am, men at 10:30am; 1 loop swim, 3 loop bike, 5 loop run. Some great tough racing by many athletes. In the womens' race, a lead pack of ~6 athletes came into T2 together, with a footrace to determine the podium. In the mens' race, the lead pack of 4 athletes came into T2 with a ~35 sec lead, and Ian Donald ran up from the second group to finish in 3rd. 

TOP 5

WOMEN
1. Sarah-Anne Brault (MB)
2. Rachael Edwards (SK)
3. Christine Ridenour (BC)
4. Dorelle Hinton (ON)
5. Rebecca Staynor (BC)

MEN
1. Jeff Phillips (BC)
2. Matt Sharpe (BC)
3. Ian Donald (ON)
4. Connor Hammond (ON)
5. Aaron Thomas (BC)

Crashes:

Domi Jamnicky touched a wheel in front of her and crashed - she has some road rash, but she's fine and in good spirits. Travis Goron had a flat on his front wheel causing him to crash - he has minor scrapes, but no major road rash. John Rasmussen slipped in T1, falling onto his back, bruising his low back on his bike pedal. He recovered to finish the race, but his injury definitely hindered his running. All Ontario athletes are safe and in one piece. There were a few other crashes, but from what I hear, no serious injuries.

REUNION TOUR

National level races are always a great opportunity to connect with some of the great coaches and athletes from across the country. Since I missed the Pinawa and Gatineau junior races, I was really looking forward to this race for the chance to see everyone (and to listen to Angela "state the facts" for the entire 13hr drive).  We've split the athletes into two big groups ("The Western Provinces" and "Ontario") for training sessions. Coaches Patrick Kelly (BC), Gary Pallett (MB) and RossAnn Edwards (SK) are the Western coaches, and Greg Kealey and I are supporting the Ontario crew.  Today at the pool, the western athletes were leaving while we were arriving.  Barb Sharpe took this great picture (below) of most of the athletes, complete with a classic PEI house in the background.  Between the junior mens' and women's races, there are 56 athletes competing on Sunday.

I also ran into the BC Junior boys in the parking lot, for the first time since Brampton Jr Nationals last year. The warm welcome I received from JP, Sharpie, Lowell and Aaron looked a lot like the treatment the Masked Marauder dished out to coach PK on the pool deck.  I've gotta' get me one of those Mexican wrestling masks......

ROAD TRIP

We arrived last night Summerside, PEI after a 13hr drive from Ottawa, complete with a van full of gear, 6 teenagers, and lots of help.  Thanks to Peggy Reid and Ken Madsen for helping us get some of the bikes to PEI, and thanks to Vlad Jamnicky for the extra bungie cords.  A huge thanks to Anne and Mike Donald for the homestay (they fed and housed all 5 juniors), the Jack Lallane juicer experience, the cooler full of food, and the cargo carrier for the roof!  I think I'll include a stop at the Donald house for all future road trips.

We race Sunday, in the 3rd Junior Series race of the year.  This is also the test event for the 2009 Canada Games, so athletes from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Martimes are all here to get a preview of the course.  Today we'll do 3 short aerobic workouts (S/B/R) just to work out the kinks from travel, and tomorrow we'll do some activation (ie. short & fast) to be ready for racing on Sunday.

Not to be outdone, Adrian and Tom will be racing in Owen Sound on Monday, and James will race the Windsor Tri a week later, in the final races before Kelowna.