Monday, December 28, 2009

DECADE




What was the biggest story in Canadian sports?
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 10:58PM EST
Last updated on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009 8:35AM EST


Here are five great moments chosen by champion rower Silken Laumann, who won medals for Canada in three Olympic Games and is now an author and the founder of a charitable movement dedicated to children’s recreation based in Victoria.

“There are so many great moments,” she says, “but a few really stick in my mind because they encompass some of the remarkable elements that make up Canadian sports.”

Ms. Laumann's picks:

1. Simon Whitfield winning the first gold medal in the triathlon at Sydney in 2000 and then, eight years later, having a remarkable almost gold performance in Beijing. The guy has guts.

2. Kyle Shewfelt winning Canada’s first ever Olympic gold in gymnastics. Gymnastics is a sport dominated by Eastern Europeans. To see a fellow Canadian win this event made leagues of aspiring young gymnasts believe they could do it, too.

3.The double gold – both men’s and women’s – in Olympic hockey at Salt Lake City in 2002. Did we Canadians feel on top of the world that week!

4. The men’s eight winning gold in the Beijing Games last year. They dominated – I don’t think there has ever been a group as fit, focused and determined to win. They were in a league of their own in the most highly contested event in men’s rowing.

5. Steve Nash, the first Canadian ever named the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player, an honour he received two years in a row (2004-5 and 2005-6). You don’t need to know anything about basketball to be electrified by the intensity, passion and skill this young man from Victoria brings to the court.

Love it. Full article here. Leave your vote in the comments.





Monday, December 21, 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

WINTER TRAINING

I hear those ByTown guys do a lot of snowshoeing, and guys like Tom Evans and Jonnyo like to xc ski. Here's a plug for an interesting online video cycling program from coach Richard Pady who runs Healthy Results, called Indoor Rider. Anything to turn winter to our advantage is worth a look in my book.

I don't normally promote products etc. on the blog (and I haven't been asked to in this case), but it looks like a fun option for winter training, and Rich is a great coach, a great supporter of the sport and the community. And, he was always a gracious winner when he beat me repeatedly in junior racing a lifetime ago. And, I'm a big fan of Canadian coaches and athletes. And, you get to 'ride' with this guy (below), who is such an uber tri geek that he rides custom rollers in his custom training shed with a custom remote control camera. Sweet.


If anyone has some other ideas for beating old man winter, leave a note in the comments. Train smart.


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

JUST TRAIN...TRAIN...TRAIN

A few of these are making the rounds lately, and apparently you can make your own if you're feeling creative. It's a fun clip - a short break from studying for the university crowd, or maybe a distraction at work - but don't blame me if you feel like you'll never get those 5mins of your life back.






Edit: I didn't make this video. You can find the original page here, along with two more 'Race Report' shorts from "AussieShooter".


Monday, December 14, 2009

VERZBICAS WINS FOOT LOCKER


High school cross-country: Sandburg's Lukas Verzbicas wins prestigious Foot Locker national title
By Kyle Betts
Tribune reporter
www.chicagotribune.com
6:52 p.m. CST, December 12, 2009



Sandburg sophomore Lukas Verzbicas took his domination to San Diego on Saturday for the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship.

He'll return to Orland Hills with another prestigious title.

Verzbicas, the 2009 Class 3A state cross-country champion, finished the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 8 seconds -- 15 seconds ahead of second-place Matthew McElroy of Huntington Beach, Calif.

Full article here.

Longer article from Competitor.com here.

Webcast of races here.



Sunday, December 13, 2009

STATE OF PROFESSIONALISM IN TRIATHLON

State of Professionalism in Triathlon
By Mary Beth Ellis
12/11/2009
www.xtri.com

There is an epidemic among the professional triathlete ranks, and I fear it is spreading. From blogs to race reports to twitter feeds, my compatriots are lamenting the difficulty of their life as if they have a tortuous job working on a chain gang. This constant hum of ‘woe is me’ self-pity is starting to worry me. I am not immune and have on occasion blamed others or circumstances for my own shortcomings. However, I have been lucky to have coaches who have taught me the importance of taking personal responsibility. When I started triathlon, I worked with Siri Lindley and more recently have been coached by Simon Lessing. Both have taught me an invaluable lesson for all athletes namely taking control of one’s own destiny and accepting responsibility.

Full article here.



Friday, December 4, 2009

IT'S A DEAL, IT'S A STEAL.....


...it's the sale of the century! (an almost direct quote from one of my favourite movies: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.)

The Bytown Storm Triathlon Team has organized a great fundraiser. From their blog:


Want to help support some of the best young triathletes in the country?

Want to help some of the newest young triathletes in the area?

Why not do both? The Bytown Storm Triathlon Team is a Not for Profit Ottawa area multi sport club that provides programs for all ages and skill levels. The Club is raffling off 3 Christmas Gift baskets worth more than $2500.00(approx. value) to help raise money for programs and to purchase much needed equipment.

To purchase tickets you can just email the club at endurancentre1@yahoo.ca or check our website for times and locations where we will be selling tickets( locations to be determined).




Full post, including all the prizes up for grabs, here.




Wednesday, December 2, 2009

HIT THE BOOKS...


...or articles as the case may be. Since we're in exam mode here, I thought I'd post a link to an interesting review article from Sportsci.org entitled "Intervals, Thresholds, and Long Slow Distance: the Role of Intensity and Duration in Endurance Training." Nothing new, but perhaps a good general review from a broad perspective - sometimes we get lost in the details. You can read/download the article from the main page (center panel, near the bottom), or you can read it here.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

ENCORE

At the Training Day on Sunday, Ian, Connor and Dorelle talked to the athletes about their 2009 Can Games and/or Worlds experience, and idon debuted his latest work:





Monday, November 30, 2009

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES AMBASSADOR

A great opportunity for anyone interested in gaining experience in supporting/managing international amateur sport. Deadline: Dec. 14th, 2009. See below for details.



Subject: Youth Olympic Games Young Ambassador - Call for application

Hi All,

As part of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the IOC is piloting a Young Ambassadors program. This program involves the identification of an individual between the ages of 18-25 who will join Canada’s delegation with the goal of promoting the YOG to the athletes. In addition to the formal IOC responsibilities, this individual will play an important role as a part of Canada’s mission team. The selected individual will also participate in the Chef de Mission meetings next March in Singapore. The specific job description is attached in both French and English. It should be noted that this individual cannot act as a coach.

Applications for this position will be accepted until December 14th, 2009.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in promoting this initiative within your sport.

Kind regards,

Brian

Brian Edey
Project Manager, Youth Olympic Games
Gestionnaire de projet, Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse

Canadian Olympic Committee
Comité olympique canadien
85 Albert Street, Suite 1400
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 6A4
(613) 244-2020 ext.226
(613) 244-0169




Click on the documents below for larger image.





Friday, November 27, 2009

TRAINING DAY SUNDAY




A quick reminder that we have our next Training Day, this Sunday, November 29th.

We're close to capacity, but we still have room for a few more athletes (age 10 to Adult).

Registration forms available here.

In addition to our normal program of swimming, biking and running, we'll have a few guest speakers.

Craig Taylor will be available to talk to the parents about scheduling/programming for youth/junior athletes, and Dorelle Hinton, Connor Hammond and Ian Donald will be talking about their 2009 Canada Games and/or 2009 World Championships experiences.

Doors open at 8:05AM, Swim starts at 8:30AM. We usually wrap up around 2:30PM. Bring appropriate gear for swimming, indoor riding and outdoor running. Don't forget snacks, a water bottle, lunch, and a camera.

Looking forward to a great day of training.

See you Sunday.


Monday, November 23, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

VELODROME OPPORTUNITY




The Ontario Cycling Association, in partnership with the Forest City Velodrome in London, ON, has extended an invite to youth/junior triathletes to train at the Velodrome this winter. Specifically, Saturday afternoons, on almost every weekend from now until the end of April. The target group is 14-17 year olds, but there's some flexibility on that. Don't be afraid to ask.

This is a great opportunity to try something new, develop cycling skills, and get off that trainer - very exciting.

TIME: Sessions are Saturday afternoons, usually starting at 2pm. Coaches are welcome (encouraged) to come, but the sessions will be run by FCV coaches.

EQUIPMENT: Helmet, cycling clothes and shoes are required. Bikes are provided.

MEMBERSHIP: athletes must be OAT members.

COST: $0 (nada, zilch, nothing, free....)

MAX # OF ATHLETES: 15 per session.

SIGN-UP: E-mail me with questions and/or dates you would like to attend. Athletes can attend multiple times, but priority is given to athletes who are going for their first time. Some clubs have already signed up for some of the dates, but few have 15 athletes attending, so we're able to add you to most of the dates below. Athletes do not to be a member of a triathlon club to participate, but athletes do need to have an current OAT membership.

This is not a 'drop-in' program - athletes need to sign-up in advance so we can co-ordinate with the FCV and OCA.

NOTE: If the date is "BOOKED" that means the FCV have already booked it off for another program


Nov. 21 PTC
Nov. 28
Dec. 5
Dec 12
Dec 19 Fun2Tri Club, Barrie Youth Triathlon
Jan 2
Jan 9 Hamilton Hammerheads
Jan 16 PTC
Jan 23 ByTown Storm
Jan 30 BOOKED
Feb 6:
Feb 13: Fun2Tri Club
Feb 20:
Feb 27:
Mar 6: PTC
Mar 13:
Mar 20:
Mar 27: BOOKED
April 3: ByTown Storm, Barrie Youth Triathlon
April 10:
April 17: Fun2Tri
April 24:

Alright, have at it. Pick a date, e-mail me, and get ready for some fun on the track.

CT


Monday, November 16, 2009

COMP INTRO GEMS

If you've been part of the NCCP Comp Intro program for triathlon, you'll recognize these two themes; in my opinion, the most important parts of the program.

HOLISTIC COACHING: I was talking to a former Olympian recently about American run coach Bobby McGee. I've never met him, but I like what he writes on his blog. The Olympian had worked with coach McGee, and said he was a fantastic coach. Naturally, I wanted to know what makes him such a great coach. The answer: he coaches to the whole person, or the four components of the holistic model: physical, cognitive/emotional, cultural/spiritual, social.

OPERATIVE PRINCIPLES: The ITU has recently begun posting a series of triathlon development videos as part of an ongoing sport development initiative. The video below is the first instalment. Certified NCCP Competition coaches will recognize the technical model of: "Safety > Core > Co-ordination > Components", starting at ~0:45".

Nice to see that Comp Intro incorporates best coaching practices, and serves as a foundation for the ITU coaching program.





Full ITU article here.



Monday, November 9, 2009

2009 HATULCO WORLD CUP

A rare pair of solo breakaways that stuck in the men's race at the ITU Hatulco World Cup on the weekend locked up gold and silver for Matt Chrabot (USA) and Ruidi Wild (SUI).

“I went out on a suicide mission today,” said Chrabot. “It was so hot and so hilly it made it really tough, but I took my chances and I really like this course."




Exciting racing, and some bold tactics pay off. Love the blatant chinstrap violation in T2.

Press release and high(er) quality video of the men's race

Press release and video of the women's race.


Sunday, November 8, 2009

EXERCISE AND "BRAINPOWER"


The link between exercise and more brainpower
Anne McIlroy
Saturday Nov 8, 2009
www.theglobeandmail.com

It is first period at City Park Collegiate Institute in Saskatoon, and the Grade 10 students in Allison Cameron's class are priming their brains for an English assignment.

They strap heart monitors on their wrists and climb on a treadmill or exercise bike for a 20-minute workout. When they're done, they move to their desks and start writing. The students are taking part in a program that aims to help them improve their focus, concentration and, ultimately, their academic performance through regular exercise in class.

The results have been startling: On standardized tests, the children in Movement Matters have dramatically outscored students in classes in which the program wasn't offered.

----------------------------------

Interesting article, considering the reduction in time dedicated to physical education (and music) in schools over the last several years.

Full article here.



Saturday, November 7, 2009

PHOTO ESSAY

I had the chance to get to OFSAA XC this year, so I packed up my daughter Kate, picked up Ian and Connor in Guelph, and headed to Boyd Conservation Area for the races.

Ian's comment less than 2 minutes before this picture was taken: "Wow, Kate falls asleep really fast."



The weather was great; low wind, sunny skies and 14 degrees. A perfect Fall day:



While Ian and Conner were off buying OFSAA gear, and trying to enter themselves in the senior boys race, I toured around the finish line and met up with a lot of familiar faces (parents, coaches and athletes). I even caught this pic of the 6th place finisher in the Junior Boys race - not a triathlete (yet), but our top recruiters are working on it:



I also bumped into Joanna Brown and her ByTown Storm coach Greg Kealey before her race. Jo, the Provincial Junior Triathlon Champion and member of Ontario's Canada Games Triathlon Team was relaxed and looking forward to racing in warm conditions...



...and she ran away from the field to a convincing win in the Senior Women's race:



I was hoping to catch the Senior Men's race too, but it was delayed by approximately 45 minutes, so I had to leave before the gun went off. That's too bad, because I missed Tristan Woodfine (Joanna's ByTown Storm teammate, and Canada Games teammate) taking the early lead and running away with the Senior Men's title!

Both OFSAA Senior Champs are triathletes, from the same triathlon club. Very impressive.

In addition to Joanna and Tristan's excellent races, there we many other triathletes racing throughout the day. The most impressive race was probably the Senior Women's; close behind Joanna were Chelsea Mackinnon (Hamilton Hammerheads) in 8th, and Dominika Jamnicky (another ByTown athlete who raced on Ontario's Canada Games team) in 10th. Three triathletes in the top 10 - great stuff!

There were a host of other triathletes, with a lot of very impressive performances. Hopefully most of you heard us cheering for you, and if I've missed anyone (and I probably have), please e-mail me so I can add you to the list. Where I have the info, I've included the associated triathlon club - feel free to send corrections or updates on that, too.

Congrats to everyone on their efforts today.

Full results here.

Dylan Bates
Joanna Brown (ByTown)
Stephanie Daley
Aleksa Despinic (Hammerheads)
Adam Doxtator
Rachel Faulds
Austen Forbes (Hammerheads)
Taylor Forbes (Hammerheads)
Kyle Haas (Fun2Tri)
Kent Hambly (Hammerheads)
Katherine Howell (Hammerheads)
Domi Jamnicky (ByTown)
Samantha Klus (ByTown)
Jackie Lloyd (Hammerheads)
Duke Lloyd (Hammerheads)
David Mackie
Chelsea Mackinnon (Hammerheads)
Adrienne Morgan
Peter Quosai (Guelph Marlins a while ago, but now running with Speed River...way to go Peter)
Pauline Skowron (C3)
Heather Summers (Hammerheads)
Paige Tate (Hammerheads)
Jessica Witt (Hammerheads)
Tristan Woodfine (ByTown)
Rui Xu (Hammerheads)
Myles Zagar (Fun2Tri)



2015 PAN AM GAMES



Toronto region wins 2015 Pan / Parapan American Games
Will bring jobs, 250,000 visitors, new facilities for region.

GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, November 6, 2009 – Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe region has been chosen to host the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. The decision was made today by the Pan American Sport Organization (PASO) in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“We are thrilled,” said Toronto 2015 Bid Chair, the Hon. David Peterson. “We would like to thank PASO and in particular, PASO President, Mario Vasquez Rana for having confidence in us and allowing us this great honour. We will work hard to stage the best Pan and Parapan Am Games ever.”

-------------------------------------

Great news for Canadian sport, and for triathlon.

Full press release here.



Monday, November 2, 2009

CHAMPION CARVER...


...and other Champions.

First off, congrats to the Guelph Gryphons XC Teams for the double five-peat at the OUA Championships on the weekend. The mens and womens teams were once again crowned as OUA Champions, with the men setting a new record for lowest team score: 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 + 6 = 17...almost perfect. Wow! The Gryphon women have won 6 consecutive OUA Team titles, and 9 of the last 11 OUA Team titles.

Gyphons photo album. Gryphons Varsity coverage.

Now, on to the big winner of the weekend - the first PTC Pumpkin Carving Champion. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the work of Derek Snider. Like many great artists before him, Derek said he didn't start with a plan, he simply started carving and let the work evolve naturally. Derek, your award is in the mail.





Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I DARE YOU...


...to carve a pumpkin like this:







These are just some of the pumpkins carved by Noel Dickover and his family over the last 9 years. You can find all of his work at fantasypumpkins.com. He even has tutorials and templates for a few designs - all free. Great stuff from a guy who really gets into the Hallowe'en season. I wonder what his house looks like at Christmas.

You can also find a few ideas at extremepumpkins.com, but after looking at Noel's work, this site isn't nearly as 'extreme'.

Send me some pics of your pumpkins and we'll post them on Monday.

Monday, October 26, 2009

EASTBOUND AND DOWN

A few notes on random happenings....



ROAD TRIP
I hit the road late last week for a quick trip to Ottawa to visit some coaches and athletes. The ByTown crew were hard at work Friday morning, training alongside the Carleton Ravens, under the watchful eyes of Ravens coach John Hawes and ByTown coach Greg Kealey. Everyone looks to be rolling along well and it was good to get a quick visit with Matt V, Jo Brown and Jamie Stephenson.


BROWN NAMED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Joanna Brown was named athlete of the week by the Ottawa Citizen. If I knew about this when I was in Ottawa, I would have asked for an autograph.




QUEST FOR GOLD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
The 2009-2010 Quest for Gold Nominees have been announced on the OAT website. Almost everyone is from "eastern" Ontario. Maybe it's something in the water.

Congratulations to:
Ian Donald, Ottawa, ON (PTC)
Matt Vierula, Ottawa, ON (ByTown Storm)
Alexander Hinton, Kingston, ON (PTC)
Andrew Yorke, Caledon, ON (C3)
Tristan Woodfine, Cobden, ON (ByTown Storm)
Domi Jamnicky, Cobourg, ON (ByTown Storm)
Joanna Brown, Carp, ON (ByTown Storm)
Dorelle Hinton, Kingston, ON (PTC)


C3 AWARDS DINNER
The C3 club is hosting an awards dinner & dance on November 21st, with keynote speaker Darren Karasiuk. More info here. And congrats to the C3 club on setting a National Record with 1000+ kids running the Kinetico Caledon Running Festival recently. Great stuff.




Thursday, October 22, 2009

ICE CARTEL

A conspiracy that drove up the price of ice
Nathan Vanderklippe
Oct 21, 2009
www.theglobeandmail.com


A few years ago, Peggy Perry found herself scratching her head over the cost of ice.

Her store, Calgary-based Willow Park Wines & Spirits, sells bagged ice along with a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. When she sat down to do the math, buying the ice seemed unreasonably expensive.

Ms. Perry, Willow Park's vice-president for marketing and purchasing, figured there was “something fishy going on.”

And she realized “if we made our own ice we'd make a small fortune.”

Ms. Perry was right. For $5,000, Willow Park bought an ice machine. It paid it off in months. The store now sells ice at $2 a bag – less than the Calgary going rate of $2.50 – but still manages to turn an 80-per-cent profit. It is likely the store's highest-margin product, she said.

--------------------------------


This almost seems like a joke, except that we spend a fair bit of money each summer at the OAT camps for ice baths.

Full article here.



Tuesday, October 20, 2009

STRETCHING: THE TRUTH



A great video lecture (or available as audio via iTunes) entitled "Stretching: The Truth", from Dr. Doug Richards. Dr. Richards is a professor with the department of Physical Education at the University of Toronto, and the Medical Director of the Macintosh Sports Med Clinic at UofT. He keeps a busy schedule as a clinician, teacher and researcher. I had the good fortune to work as a TA for Dr. Richards during my grad studies at UofT, back when he was 'only' an MD. Since then, he's completed his PhD, under the supervision of Dr. Stuart McGill at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Doug is a great teacher, and a fantastic lecturer - he stays current with emerging research (some of which he's doing himself), and he's very good at distilling the evidence into practical terms. Good info for coaches and athletes from an expert in the field.



Monday, October 19, 2009

MOVING TO JUNIOR/U23/ELITE

I get a few questions on these topics every year, so I thought I'd create a post for future reference.

Generally, someone will e-mail asking, "How do I race junior draft-legal?", "Now that I'm no longer a junior, what do I need to do to race U23?", "How do I get my elite card?", or "How do I enter ITU races?"

Keeping in mind this is specific to draft-legal racing (and Ontario athletes), here we go.....


JUNIOR

Marshalling the Junior Men at Coteau du Lac (2009)

If you are between the age of 16-19 by December 31st in the year you want to race, you are a junior. Therefore, athletes eligible to race junior in 2010 will be age 16-19 by December 31st, 2010. If you want to race in a junior draft-legal event (usually the Canadian Junior National Series), you need to be certified for draft-legal racing. You can be certified for draft-legal racing in the following ways:

1. You can be certified by me (Craig Taylor) or a coach designated by me, at a Training Day, Drafting Clinic, or OAT Training Camp. (Note: the training day/draft clinics usually take place in the spring)

2. If you are a member of the ByTown Storm, C3 Club or Hamilton Hammerheads, designated coaches in your club can certify you, provided that they have regularly observed you in group riding situations.

3. A NCCP Certified Cycling Coach (level 2 or higher) can evaluate you, and recommend to me that you be certified.

Please note that to race junior draft-legal races, you will need a traditional road bike (not a TT bike), with aero bars that do not extend beyond the brake hoods. I would actually recommend that all KOS athletes race on road bikes, rather than TT bikes, as they develop their bike handling skills.

Once you have your drafting certification, you will be issued a 'drafting card', and you can register for any of the Junior National Series races, including Junior Nationals. There is currently no selection or qualification process for domestic Junior Series races. There is however a qualification/selection process for PanAm Champs (aka "PATCO") and ITU World Championships.

The Junior National Series schedule is typically posted early in the new year, on the Triathlon Canada website.



U23 (Under 23)

Kyle Jones runs to 9th place at the 2005 ITU World Championships


The U23 category includes athletes aged 18-23, who race in International Triathlon Union (ITU) events. This category was created to facilitate the transition of athletes from junior racing (sprint distance) to the Olympic distance, with "U23 racing" typically referring to draft-legal Olympic distance ITU events. Most athletes generally wait until they are 20 years old (as of Dec 31st) to move to U23 racing.

The U23 category is really only recognized at National, Regional (ie. PATCO) and World Championships. In fact, the ITU World Championship is the ONLY time that athletes will race in a separate event against other U23 athletes. For National and Regional Championships, the U23 athletes toe the line with the other elites (ie. Simon Whitfield, Kyle Jones, Lauren Groves, Kathy Tremblay, etc.), and they are listed in the results as U23 athletes, with a separate podium presentation. For example, at the 2009 Canadian National Triathlon Championships, Paula Findlay finished 3rd overall, but 1st among U23 athletes - so she was recognized on the podium twice: once as the bronze medal winner in the Elite race, and also as the 2009 U23 National Champion. In 2008, Paula was first overall in the Junior National Championships on Saturday, and first overall in the Elite National Championships on Sunday, so she was the 2008 Junior, U23 and Elite National Champion.

At all other races (outside of National, Regional and World Champs), there is no separate U23 category, and no separate U23 podium. For example, ITU Continental Cups, World Cups, and World Championships Series Races do not have a U23 category, unless the race is also serving as a National or Regional Championship, or World Championship Grand Final.

Before you go signing up for an ITU Race, you need to get some paperwork organized:

The first step is to apply for an OAT Elite card.

After you have successfully obtained your OAT Elite card, you can apply to Triathlon Canada for an International Competition Card (aka ICC). You'll need this, because the only way to enter ITU races is through Triathlon Canada (contact: raceentries@triathloncanada.com) If TriCan doesn't register you for an ITU race, you won't be on the start list.

In most cases, you will be able to enter almost any ITU Continental Cup via TriCan. Occasionally however, these races fill up, and priority is given in order of athlete ranking. If the race registration reaches capacity, and you aren't ranked high enough, you won't be able to get to the start line.

For entry into ITU World Cups, you must meet Triathlon Canada's World Cup Criteria.

For entry into the ITU World Championships Series, you need to be on the National Team.

For a list of ITU Events, follow this link.




ELITES


Kathy Tremblay runs to a 3rd place finish at 2006 ITU Mazatlan World Cup


The story for the elites is essentially the same as the U23s. You'll need a provincial elite card, and then an ICC from Triathlon Canada. After that, you can enter ITU races via TriCan, provided you are ranked high enough, and meet TriCan's criteria. Note that Triathlon Canada may reserve entry spots to targeted races for National Team and/or National Development Team athletes.



Friday, October 16, 2009

"ATTITUDES ARE CONTAGIOUS....

....is yours worth catching?"

A great quote for athletes AND coaches (and parents, administrators, support staff, etc.). from a sportscoachingbrain.com piece on motivation, attitude and excellence.

Another quote from the article:
Leading USA Swimming Coach Mark Schubert said recently, “A coach told me that he had a poor taper and subsequently his swimmers had performed poorly at their state championships. I replied, “You didn’t have a poor taper – you had a poor season of training”. “It’s the little things your athletes do everyday in training, their attitude to every training session and their commitment to every task they attempt in their program that determines how well they do in competition. A great taper will not save you from a poor training effort”.

There's certainly a clear and simple message from top coaches in different endurance sports: Your confidence on the start line next year will be determined by the quality and consistency of your preparation, starting now.



Train smart.



Monday, October 12, 2009

HEWICK 3RD IN INDONESIA

(edit: Title change, Steven raced in Indonesia, not Philippines. My Geography teacher would be disappointed)



Congratulations to Steven Hewick on his 3rd place finish at the 2009 Palembang ITU Triathlon Asian Cup. Next up is the ITU Premium Asian Cup in Hong Kong, next weekend.


Thursday, October 8, 2009

CAN GAMES PICS II








Team Ontario just updated their Flickr account with photos from the Canada Games Triathlon - some great shots in there, and you can find links to pics from all of the other events.

I also forgot to post a link to Bruce Hammond's pics from the Can Games, too.



Wednesday, October 7, 2009

OHATA BANNED 6 YEARS


ITU Imposes Six-year Ban on Triathlete Mariana Ohata
October 7, 2009
www.triathlon.org


The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today announced it has imposed a six-year ban on Mariana Ohata a triathlete from Brazil, after committing an anti-doping rule violation in an out-of-competition doping control test in Iowa, United States on June 26, 2009.

The ban begins October 2, 2009 and prohibits Ohata from entering or participating in any competition or activity authorized by ITU, its National Federations (NFs) and/or any other signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code. This is the athlete’s second anti-doping rule violation. In 2002, Ohata was sanctioned to a 60 week ban from competition by the Brazilian Sport Court of the Brazilian Triathlon Confederation.

Full press release here.

Additional coverage here.




Tuesday, October 6, 2009

PEARLS OF WISDOM



Some entertaining/informative insight from High-Performance Training for Track & Field, authored by coaching legend Bill Bowerman & Bill Freemam.

CHAMPIONS
The two greatest characteristics of champions have always been dedication and hard work.

EQUIPMENT
The runner's equipment is almost as meager as the swimmer's, with one exception: the shoes. Every experienced runner should have three pairs of shoes, if possible. One is for wearing to and from the track and during roadwork, the second is for regular practice, and the last is for competition. For training clothes, lightweight materials that protect from the weather yet still "breathe" should be used. The running trunks and jersey should also be very light. Names or emblems can be silk-screened rather than sewn on, avoiding useless, weighty junk. The only necessary stripe across the chest is the one at the finish line. Stocking caps are good protection against the cold, but a sweatshirt with a hood attached is probably more practical because the hood cannot be forgotten or lost. All of the training clothing should be kept clean, washed as often as possible.

GARDENING
Some athletes can handle more work than others. Some show more improvement with intervals, others with fartlek. The two are combined with a little speed work until we learn what kind of fertilizer makes our flowers grow best.

VARIETY
One cardinal principle should never be forgotten: Variety is the spice of life. Every runner needs variety, if for no other reason than to prevent mental staleness. The system must always recognize that individuals are different. Schedules are only guides. Just as a balanced diet makes for a healthier, happier person, so does a varied and balanced training schedule make for a more efficient, eager runner. A continuous, non varied schedule usually makes an automatic, unimaginative runner.

RACING
An athlete who runs the opponent's race will have a very bad experience because it is a devastating way to run a race. An athlete should not offer him- or herself as a lamb for the slaughter. One should never try to fight an opponent on his or her own choice of battleground. Whenever an athlete is tempted to try to beat an opponent while letting the opponent use his or her favorite club in the contest, the athlete should remember one thing: Wisdom and judgment are a great deal more important than determination. There is more pleasure in being a wise victor than a determined loser.

SPECIFICITY
The "15km, 1,200m drill" (10-mile, 3/4 drill) is a 10-mile run on the roads. At some point during the run the coach appears and has the athlete run a timed 3/4-mile (1,200m) at close to mile pace. This teaches the runner to combat a long, hard surge by an opponent or else to be able to drop an opponent by forcing the pace for a very long surge. Runners such as Steve Prefontaine sometimes ran the 1,200m in 3:05 or faster. Note that after the 1,200m, the athlete slows down only to the earlier running pace, not to a slow jog. That is what makes the drill very difficult. It is primarily a drill for runners of the 5,000m or longer distances.

Friday, October 2, 2009

RUNNING NEWS

Cooler temps, grey skies, and rain - Fall must be here. So long Summer of 2009, we hardly knew you. Here in Guelph, the PTC squad is easing back into training, and enjoying the start of the XC season (as fans, and runners).

Alexander Hinton races with the Gryphons Cross Country Team at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University today. FloTrack will be covering the races (video below), and results will be here.


Some other running news:

How's this for a workout? Dathan Ritzenhein runs faster than U.S. record for 10 miles in a workout.

Guelph Running attracts more talent. As usual, some great insight from DST.

Finally, a sobering article on Marion Jones - the best liar in the business.



Tuesday, September 29, 2009

CONFIDENCE


From a blog I've been enjoying lately:


"Consider that all physical training is in great part a mental exercise through which the ability to do a certain amount of work embues within you the belief that you can race a certain way. This is the only real way to build self-confidence." ~ Bobby McGee




Saturday, September 19, 2009

RE-SET



Time flies and most of the triathlon community is closing the book on the 2009 season. The PTC squad is taking a break, with some exceptions; Steven Hewick is racing two Asian ITU races in October, and Alexander Hinton has his debut x-c race as a Guelph Gryphon today. I'll be taking some downtime too, before we start back up in October, so there may not be many blog posts for a few weeks. But first, some important notes/reminders:

ITU WORLDS
By now, even the casual tri-geek blog surfer will know all about the recent ITU World Championships (and Grand Final) in Gold Coast, AUS. Ontario had 3 athletes on the team: Andrew Yorke in the U23 race (C3), and juniors Connor Hammond & Ian Donald (PTC). All three guys raced hard, gained valuable experience, and did a great job representing Canada. Everyone should have lots of positives to take away from the races. Congrats to Paula Findlay on her 3rd place finish (U23), and to our top 10 finishers; Simon Whitfield 8th in the elite mens race, and Alison Hooper 6th & Kyla Coates 8th in junior women.


CBC COVERAGE
Be sure to check out the televised coverage of the 2009 Triathlon World Championships from Gold Coast Australia on CBC Sports:

Men's Event - Saturday September 19 from 5 -6 pm (TODAY)
Women's Event - Saturday September 26 from 5 - 6 pm


TRAINING DAYS
I'm very happy to have Leighanne Rowe taking over the admin of the training days for the 2009-2010 year. I'll still be at every training day, and able to do more coaching than last year.

If you want to COACH at the training days, you can find the info here. Deadline is September 24th for applications, so not a lot of time.

PTC Training Day Schedule:
· November 1 and 29, 2009
· January 3 and 31, 2010
· March 7, 2010
· April 11, 2010
· May 2, 2010


OAT AGM
A final reminder of OAT's Annual General Meeting, Friday September 25th. Full info here.


CONGRATS & THANKS
Finally, a blog post won't do this justice, and I've certainly missed more events, accomplishments and stories than I've caught, but a big congrats and thanks to all of the athletes, coaches, supporters, administrators, race directors, officials and volunteers who have worked so hard to make this an amazing year. The KOS athletes are rocking. The parents logged a million miles of driving through every kind of weather. Our juniors dominated PATCO, and the Canadian Junior Series was the most competitive it's ever been. Triathlon debuted at the Canada Summer Games to great success. Our National Team went toe-to-toe with the best in the world and posted some great results. So many successes, and just enough unfinished business to make everyone hungry for the 2010 season. Thanks to OAT, the Canadian Sport Centre (Ontario), Quest for Gold, the University of Guelph and TriCan for their continued support. 2010 is going to be fun.





Thursday, September 10, 2009

CATCH-UP


Lots of updates since the last post, so we'll squeeze them all together here.

CAN GAMES

Connor Hammond claims silver in the Men's Triathlon at the Canada Games

When we left the Can Games after week 1, Team Ontario was trailing Team BC in Flag Points by a small margin. In week two, Team Ontario took the lead, to claim the Canada Games Flag. Congrats to all athletes.


WORLDS

After the Canada Games, Connor Hammond, Ian Donald and Andrew Yorke joined the rest of Canada's World Championships Team in Victoria for a pre-worlds camp. I went to Vic for a few days to lend a hand, catch-up with some friends, and see Victoria for the first time since returning to Ontario in 2007. The team looked great, and coaches Phil Betrand, Sharon Donnelly and Patrick Kelly have them on track.

Here's the ITU preview for the race:




ITU will have live coverage of all races. For those of us on Eastern Time, here's the broadcast schedule:

U23 WOMEN: Thursday Sept 10th, 20:00EST
U23 MEN: Thursday Sept 10th, 22:30EST
AGE GROUP: Friday Sept 11th, 16:45EST
ELITE MEN: Saturday Sept 11th, 1:15EST
JUNIOR WOMEN: Saturday Sept 12th, 21:45EST
JUNIOR MEN: Saturday Sept 12th, 23:15EST
ELITE WOMEN: Sunday Sept 13th, 00:45 EST

Full Schedule here.

Juniors after a brick workout at Hamsterly Beach

Ian and Connor throw down Blue Steel in front of Simon's poster at FrontRunners Victoria.




GUELPH LAKE 2

Closer to home, I was able to get out to watch the action at Guelph Lake 2 last weekend, under sunny skies. Adrian was 6th overall against a fast mens field, and Dorelle first overall with Ang finishing 5th overall amongst the women. Lots of familiar faces, and a few new ones in the results.

I was able to take a few pics (mostly blurry ones) during the race. You can find them here.

ADM attacking the run course.





Thursday, September 3, 2009

GREAT IDEA!


TRISPORT partners with C3 to attempt a national record for kids participating in a one mile run on Sunday Sept 20th.

"With all the information about inactive kids in Canada, C3 and Trisport are working towards a solution" said Olympic coach Barrie Shepley.

On Sunday Sept 20th, C3 will host the Kinetico Running Festival where the first 1001 kids will get a totally free running experience. All kids will get a free t-shirt, free finishes medal, free race number and a chance to meet some of Canada's top Olympic and International runners and triathletes (Reid Coolsaet, Lisa Bentley, Sean Bechtel, and more). Kids will all race for free in the Riverdale Fitness Mill One Mile Run that starts at 2:10pm in Caledon (20 minutes north of Toronto).

Adults will have the opportunity to participate in the 5km or 10 mile runs. Many Trisport families are already registered including Dave Watts and Louise McGonigal. "You can imagine the energy to give away 1001 free race entries so any help we can get from Trisport participants is greatly appreciated" said Shepley.

"We hope that families will fill up their car and bring local neighborhood children, cousins and co-workers kids" said Shepley. Participants (kids or adults) must be pre-registered by going to C3's website www.c3online.ca

"Mitch and Janet have done such an amazing job providing an environment for Ontario families to stay active over the years, and we are excited that Trisport have agreed to support our attempt at setting a national record for 1000+ kids" said Shepley.

"We know many people are doing fall half and full marathon races, so our adult 5k and 10 miler are perfect short social runs prior to their bigger fall races" said Shepley. To help support an organization that is committed to helping kids, please review the Sept 20th Running Festival at www.c3online.ca



WORLDS

Medal-Winning Athletes Set to Compete for Canada at 2009 Triathlon World Championships
September 2, 2009
www.triathloncanada.com

VICTORIA—Canada will field a stellar line-up of medal-winning high-performance athletes at all levels for the Grand Final of the Triathlon World Championship Series on Australia’s Gold Coast, September 11-13, Triathlon Canada announced on Wednesday.

Two-time Olympic medallist, Simon Whitfield of Victoria, will headline the 2009 Team Teck national senior squad into the Grand Final. The 34-year-old Whitfield has enjoyed another strong season on the international triathlon circuit having won the ITU Elite Cup in Des Moines, Iowa – one of the most prestigious races on the triathlon calendar.

Full press release.



Sunday, August 30, 2009

VICTORIA UPDATE

Connor and I (Ian) have spent the last five days training in Victoria in preparation for the World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. We have another four days of work before our flight across the world.

Victoria has been nice to us. Great weather, plenty of training partners, and amazing accommodations. We are staying with the Sharpe family, Matt being the third member of the Junior Men's team. The Sharpes live about a quarter mile from the pool, and are only minutes from seemingly endless trails.
I got to test out the Elk Lake 10k loop for the first time this morning. After a few minutes with the group I decided to test the waters by myself out in front. Kyle and D.J. came with me and kept me grounded, seeing as it was a base run. I think I'm getting better at the idea of recovery workouts. Connor and I seem to have developed a routine of letting each other know when one of us takes things out at an unassigned pace. I disagreed with him this morning, but as you can see below, we often have different styles.




Tuesday, August 25, 2009

CAN GAMES RELAY




Better late than never....


Day 8 brought our second and final competition of the Canada Games: the Team Relay. Provinces competed in teams of three, with each athlete completing a 300m swim, 6.67k bike and 2k run, before handing off to their next team mate. Both races were held under good conditions: non-wetsuit swim, fairly calm water, moderate winds, warm temps.

In the Women's relay started at 10AM. Dorelle was our lead athlete, followed by Domi Jamnicky, and anchored by Joanna Brown. In the first leg, Dorelle had a strong swim, and got onto the bike with BC, with a ~0:10" gap on MB and AB. The bike was a bit tactical, with BC waiting for MB, before attacking and putting a slight gap on us before T2. Both teams wanted at least 0:30" on us heading into the 3rd leg, so we were effectively racing against team tactics on the first leg. On to the run, MB and BC put a bit more time on us into the first hand off. Team MB had a bad exchange and lost a few seconds, effectively separating all athletes. Domi started our second leg in 3rd place, and raced great throughout, although the top 3 didn't change. Joanna put in a strong swim and bike, but lost a little time to MB's Rachel Edwards (who had a great bike split), before blasting the run with the best split (6:47) of the day. We had measured the 2k the day before the race to confirm it was accurate (it was), and I timed Joanna's relay run split with a stopwatch, from the mat at the exit of T2 to the finish line. The time on my watch was 6:22. I'm not sure why the official time is 0:25" slower, but I'm pretty sure I know how to use a stopwatch. All three girls posted relays times in the top 10 of the race. Great racing all around, and a Canada Games Bronze Medal for the team.

Womens relay results here.

The Mens relay started at 12 noon. Connor Hammond was our lead athlete, followed by Ian Donald, with Tristan Woodfine as anchor. Our plan for the guys was to give BC a run for their money by giving our 2nd and 3rd guys a 10-20 sec advantage into each swim. The BC team was strong across the board, but especially in the water, so a small advantage for Ontario heading into each swim leg would put us into T1 with the BC athlete, and in a good position to work together on the bike and push the run. Connor executed perfectly, overcoming some early contact in the swim to get into the front pack, and building the run to give us ~0:20" over BC. Ian swam very well, exiting the swim with BC's Cole Stewart as planned, and moving smoothly through T1, on to the bike. Unfortunately, Cole (a strong rider) opened up a small gap and put his head down to maximize the advantage, with Ian chasing hard to limit the gap. On to the run, Cole buried himself with a great run. Ian was able to claw back time, but BC's Jeff Phillips still started the 3rd leg with a good ~0:15" lead. With Jeff hammering off the front, Tristan was given the big task of chasing Jeff, and/or holding on to 2nd. Nova Scotia was having an excellent race, and their 3rd athlete got out of the water with Tristan. Things were looking up for us, as Tristan now had someone to work with in pursuit of BC. Unfortunately, the NS athlete dropped his chain right out of T1, which resulted in a 0:60"+ time loss before it was fixed. The MB moved up to 3rd out of T1, with Tristan riding solo in pursuit of BC further up the road. Phillips was able to open up a bit more time on the bike, and run home for the win, followed by Tristan and MB for 3rd. Without that mechanical, Nova Scotia was looking at a likely bronze medal, or at least a very exciting fight with MB for 3rd....but that's racing. All ON boys were in the top 12 of the relay times, and claimed a Canada Games Silver medal for their efforts.

Mens relay results here.

The relay event was well run, and an exciting event for athletes, spectators and coaches. It would be great to see a relay event at all Junior Series races next year (race Saturday, relay Sunday) - that would double the draft-legal race experience for our junior athletes for the same travel budget, and the athletes would love the new challenge.

A big thanks to OAT for the incredible support over the last 3+ years. Thanks also to our Manager, Karen Bonham, and Mission Staffperson Stephanie Johnston, who both provided excellent support throughout the games. Finally, congratulations to our athletes. They raced hard in both events and contributed to Ontario's medal haul (2 silver, 1 bronze), but most importantly they represented their sport and their province very well.

Congrats to all competitors, coaches and officials for being part of Triathlon's debut at the Canada Summer Games, and putting on a great show.




Monday, August 24, 2009

FULL TIME TRIATHLON COACH

I still owe the faithful PTC readers a Canada Games wrap-up post, and it's coming soon. Ontario was very well represented by a great team, and we were able to bring home three medals (silver in the mens triathlon, silver in the mens relay, bronze in the womens relay). Team manager Karen Bonham and I were very impressed with the way the athletes prepared for and executed their races.

More details will have to wait however, as I just received this notice, and I wanted to post it asap. Job postings for triathlon coaches don't come along too often, and this looks like a good one. Sheila O'Kelly is the Managing Director of ITU World Cups, and was a driving force behind the ITU Edmonton World Cup for many years. The same people behind the Edmonton race are now backing the creation of the Edmonton Triathlon Academy, and looking for a full-time coach. This could be a great development for Alberta, and for triathlon in Canada.

The job was posted in Triathlon Canada notices a few days ago.

You can read a bit more about the vision for the program here. Application deadline is Monday August 31st, 2009. Not much time.