IN THE BOOKS

November has come and gone, and I never did catch up on those updates I had planned. Suffice to say that triathletes have made their mark at OFSAA Cross Country, OTFA Cross Country, National Cross Country Championships, and many swim meets - congrats to everyone.

Yesterday we hosted our third Training Day of the year. We had a good group of 28 athletes, and in addition to the swim, bike and run workouts, I was able to spend some time with the parents and talk about youth development. I plan to offer another parent seminar on the same topic at the Jan 4th Training Day for those who couldn't make it yesterday. Thanks to coaches Alan Fairweather, Lynda Magor, Lorri Zagar, Dan McKerrall, and Mike Coughlin (who volunteered his time). Jesse Wetzl gets the athlete award for longest distance traveled (Sault St. Marie - talk about dedication), and Mike Coughlin gets the coach travel award (Sudbury). As I wrote in an earlier post, I'd love to see coaches developing more clubs and training days in more communities in Ontario so that athletes have training opportunities closer to home. We're always thrilled to welcome athletes from far and wide at our training days, but ultimately, I'd like to see them getting support closer to home. To that end, if any coach out there wants to come and observe a training day (or 2 or 3) to pick up some ideas and start a program in their neck of the woods, simply e-mail me and come for a visit. There are also other clubs offering training days, and they are more than happy to have visiting coaches check out their program.

A big thank-you also to coaches Chris VanBeurden, Danielle Dickson and Lorri Zagar for taking care of the coaching duties at the Nov 2nd Training Day. I was away in Calgary for TriCan meetings with our national Development and High Performance coaches, followed by the Sport Leadership conference. We have a good group of coaches across the country, and things look good for future development.

Some quick pics from the Training Day yesterday:

....and the exciting finish to the Junior Men's National Cross Country Championships, held at the UofG on Saturday (below). Check out Flotrack for coverage of all of the races, and Guelph Running for all results.

Visit Flotrack For More Videos

....a nice reminder to run right to the line in workouts and races.

Today in Guelph, the Speed River team is hosting X-Country Nationals. Here's a look at one of their last big workouts before the big race today (borrowed from the Guelph Running site). For updates on the team, and more great videos and interviews, visit the Guelph Running site.

Best of luck to everyone racing today.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I've been meaning to post this (part of an e-mail, below) for a few months. It was sent by a parent of an athlete new to triathlon, to the OAT office. There are many things we can do to improve the quality of our programs in Ontario, but at the end of the day, we're involved in a great sport, with hard-working athletes, and great people. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to make the 2008 season a success. (Edit: especially the coaches and parents who scrambled to pull the Ontario Games course together at the last minute!)

Dear Linda,

Again, thank-you for all of the hard work you and everyone put into the KOS Series, and more specifically the Ontario Games this season. My son had an absolutely awesome summer. As a parent, when I talk to some of his friends ("How was your summer?", What did you do?", etc.) I got a number of "Oh, not much", "slept till 3", and "played a lot of Xbox".

My son was up biking at 6 - swimming and running and some golf each day. The difference was amazing.

He got to see many places in the province that he had never seen and meet some pretty amazing people - all of whom have a common interest.

PTC TRAINING DAY NOV 30th

Following up on the previous post, just a quick reminder of the PTC Training Day, this Sunday November 30th. Remember that you can find our full schedule of Training Days for 2008-2009 in the right-hand menu, under "TRAINING DAYS".

Please also see the previous post (one below this one) with info on Training Days with the Hamilton Hammerheads (Hamilton, ON) and the ByTown Storm Triathlon Team (Ottawa, ON). Both clubs have excellent coaches and programs.

If the PTC training day is the best fit for you, I need to know you're coming. If you've attended one of our first two training days this year (Oct 19th or Nov 2nd), I already have your registration form, so you just need to e-mail me with "Nov 30th Training Day" in the header, to confirm your spot. If you haven't attended one of the first two training days, you can e-mail me for the registration forms.

TRAINING DAYS

I've become an occasional blogger, mainly because things have been busy for the PTC. I'm not as bad as some however (coughadriancough), and I'll get back to regular posting this week. There's a lot of events, results, and news to report on, so I'll try to catch up on that through the week.

I'll start with Training Days. As I've said before, I'd love to see more 'training day' opportunities across the province for youth and junior triathletes. I think we run a good training day program at the PTC, but in order to grow as a sport and increase the skill level and fitness of our young triathletes, we need more opportunities for athletes to come together for a day of triathlon training on a regular basis, under the guidance of certified triathlon coaches. We also need these opportunities to be available in different parts of the province, so that more athletes can easily access them. So I'm very happy to promote two additional training day opportunities (below), hosted by two very good youth/junior triathlon programs.

NOTE: If there are other clubs or coaches out there who also offer this type of programming, let me know, and I'll post the info. My only requirements are: 1) Targeted to youth/junior triathletes; 2) NCCP certified triathlon coach(es); 3) Club or program sanctioned by OAT.

NOTE 2: If there are coaches out there who are considering offering a training day program in their community, but need some help in getting it organized, please feel free to drop by our PTC training days here in Guelph to observe. Hopefully we'll have some good ideas for you.

From the Hamilton Hammerheads triathlon club:

Just a quick note with more information on the training days that are coming up:

Dates: Sunday, November 30 and Sunday, December 21

Time: 8AM – 3:30 PM

Schedule:
Swim: 8 – 9:30 AM
Swim session will include lots of work on technique and underwater video analysis

Run: 10 – 11:30
Run session will include special work on technique and drills.

Lunch: 11:30 – 12:30

Seminars(12:30 – 1:30):
We’ll split the group into a number of groups and spend some time on topics of interest to the group. (Please send in suggestions of topics if you have any.)

Circuit and Cycling: 1:30 – 3:30
Athletes need to bring their own windtrainers to the session. Emphasis will be placed on pedaling and spinning technique.

The cost for the training days will be $5 for Hammerhead athletes and $10 for non-Hammerhead athletes (Note from CT: Great Deal!). OAT membership is required for all participants.

These sessions are probably best geared for children 10 years and older. We’ll be very careful to make sure we keep the training at an age-appropriate level for all the children.

Please drop me a line or give me a call if you’re planning to attend, or if you have any questions, at kevin@ironnman.com or (905) 973 0884.

Thanks!

Kevin

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Greg Kealey, head coach of the Bytown Storm also offers training days. I've actually missed the first training day (last weekend; sorry Greg), but there will be more in the future. If you're in the Ottawa area, this is a great program, and I highly recommend it.

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Last but not least, the next PTC Training Day will be Sunday November 30th (it's becoming painfully apparent that we need a PTC logo). I'll put up a separate post for the PTC Training Day, but I'd like to reiterate one important point:

For those athletes who are fortunate enough to have great local coaching, especially if they are in a triathlon club, the best thing they can do is train CONSISTENTLY with that club. Your coach(es) know you best, and are able to provide you with a program that ensures technical, tactical and physiological continuity. It's difficult to overemphasize that point. We are always happy to welcome athletes to the PTC training days, and we love having athletes from different communities come together for a great day of training, but we've always envisioned the program as a way to work with athletes who didn't have access to triathlon coaching in their own community. 'Home grown' is almost always the best option. In fact, the PTC training days, Hammerhead training days and ByTown Storm training days are very similar (they should be, after all of the ideas I've stolen from Kevin & Sharon Mackinnon, Greg Pace, and Greg Kealey).

The bottom line is that we are growing our capacity in terms of training opportunities for our younger triathletes in Ontario, and this more than anything will raise our performances across the board in years to come. Ultimately, I'd like to see training days (and later, youth triathlon programs) in each geographical area of Ontario.

A big thanks to the coaches out there offering these opportunities. If there are other programs running, and they meet the requirements I've listed above, drop me a line and I'll put the info on the blog

Train Smart. Have Fun.

OLIVER MAKES STRIDES ON TRACK, IN POOL

Aurora
November 11, 2008 02:35 PM

It has been a pretty good year so far for Kaitlyn Oliver.

And it’s not over yet.

The Aurora Golden Eagles runner has, after all, captured two Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association medals, the most recent a silver at the junior girls high school cross-country championships held earlier this month in Sarnia.

That matches rather nicely with the gold medal she won at the Ontario high school track and field championships in the spring in the midget girls 3,000 metres.

“It was a good run,” said Oliver, who also competes for the Newmarket Huskies Track Club. “I was hoping to medal, that was my goal. I’ll just have to work harder to win the next one.”

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Full article here.

Congrats to Kaitlyn on her impressive accomplishments!

BIKE FOR SALE

Kerry Spearing is selling her 2008 Platinum Argon 18, size Small. From Kerry:


Hey all, if any is looking for a sweet road bike in great condition then I have the bike for you!!

It's a 2008 Platinum Argon 18.

Details are as follows:

Shift levers/cables: Dura Ace 7800
Crank Set: FSA K-Force 172.5 39/53 (Carbon crank)
Derailleurs: Dura Ace 7800
Cassette: Dura Ace 12-25
Chain: Dura Ace 7801
Brake Set: Tektro Carbon
Wheel Set: Mavic Ksyrium ES
Size: small
Current Location: Victoria, BC

Looking for $3000 obo.

Email: kerryspearing@hotmail.com

If you want pictures let me know!

BITS & BITES

Back in action.

I was in Calgary last week, attending TriCan coaching meetings, followed by the annual Sport Leadership conference. Lots of good learning to be had at Sport Leadership, including talks by Frank Dick, Jack Daniels, and Joel Filliol. The most valuable sessions however were those spent with the triathlon High Performance and Development coaches from across the country. We have a strong, collaborative group of coaches, which means a solid foundation for future development and performance. Thanks again to Triathlon Canada, and to Coaching Director Larry McMahon.

Some odds & ends from the interweb:

PRINT
Researchers may be getting closer to a valid and reliable urine test for HGH. Go science!


PODCASTS
You can get the following files as free podcasts from iTunes, or directly download the file from the following links. I usually listen to podcasts during my commute, or on those rare occasions when I'm out for a run.

60 Minutes had a good piece on the importance of Sleep back in June ( scroll down to find the June 15, 2008, episode). It's definitely worth a listen, and some reflection on the importance we give to getting adequate sleep on a consistent basis.

On the other end of the spectrum, may I suggest Tri-Talk Episode 60.  I played this during the road trip to PEI with six Ontario juniors, in August. Specifically, I recommend starting 29:38 into the podcast, for a ~16min play-by-play duathlon race report (I strongly urge you NOT to listen to the first 29:37, unless you value incorrect information). I don't think the race report is intended as humour, but it's priceless. It's a virtual goldmine of quotes, caffeine & creatine protocols, HR monitors and GPS gizmos, zone racing, and (poor) parenting. Maybe it will inspire some of you to consider "turning pro" or "make some noise on the duathlon circuit". Oh dear.

VIDEO
Finally, some video.   A nice compilation of local (Victoria and Vancouver) news coverage following the Mens' Olympic Triathlon this summer.