Thursday, July 30, 2009

FAST



Some fast fast fast running in a 5000m race by two young Ontario juniors last night in Ottawa:

Tistan Woodfine: 14:45
Joanna Brown: 17:04

Tristan and Joanna both train with the ByTown Storm Triathlon Team, and both have qualified for the Canada Summer Games in Triathlon.

Congrats to Tirstan, Joanna, and coach Greg Kealey.



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

THE KIDS (OF STEEL) ARE BACK


Ottawa, Ontario
July 29th 2009

Kids of Steel triathlons were once some of the biggest youth events in the Ottawa area, over the past 3 years many of those events had been canceled due to community or facility problems but two groups in the Ottawa area are determined to bring back the best Kids of Steel Triathlons in the country.

Kids of Steel is a National Program developed through Triathlon Canada, events that are sanctioned through provincial triathlon bodies are able to use the Kids of Steel name. Ottawa Kids Triathlon and The Bytown Storm Triathlon Team are working together to re-establish youth triathlon in the Ottawa and surrounding area.

“Our club has three of Canada’s top Junior-level triathletes, all of whom came up through the Kids of Steel program” says Bytown Storm Head Coach Greg Kealey, “these events allow kids as young as six to develop the skills and passion for a sport that encompasses an active lifestyle and variety in training.” Kealey has seen first hand just how the sport has transformed a number of the athlete’s that have gone through his program.

There are two more Kids of Steel events scheduled in Ottawa during August.
The Westboro Kids of Steel Triathlon – Westboro Beach Saturday August 15th
Dunrobin Kids of Steel Triathlon – YMCA Bonnenfant Outdoor Centre 1620 RR#2 Dunrobin Ontario. (Regional qualifying event for 2010 Ontario Summer Games)
Information on both of these events can be found at
www.bytowntriathlon.com or http://ottawakidstri.ca/.

Help us get the kids out to one or both of these events.


NOTE TO EDITORS:
The Bytown Storm Triathlon Team has arranged an opportunity to meet and speak with Ottawa’s 2008 Ontario Games Gold Medalists Joanna Brown and Tristan Woodfine, and meet some of the local athletes who will try to qualify for the 2010 Ontario Summer Games on Wednesday August 5th between 6:00pm and 8:00pm at The YMCA – YWCA Bonnenfant Outdoor Centre 1620 R.R.# 2, Dunrobin, Ontario.


For More Information please contact
Greg Kealey
Director / Coach Bytown Storm Triathlon Team
Vice President Ottawa Kids Triathlon
bytowntriathlon@yahoo.ca
613-323-5255





CT'S NOTE: a huge thank-you to all of the people who volunteer their time and work so hard to organize and host KOS events.


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

JULY

Alexander Contador tackles Rattlesnake.


Training rolls along for the PTC squad. The squad this summer is the biggest we've had, with a mix of the usual suspects, a few athletes joining us for summer training, three new recruits who will start UofG in the fall, and a 'walk on' who basically came out of left field. It's a good mix, making for lots of fun and some solid training sessions.

A quick re-cap of the last month.

We finished up the last block with Junior Nationals in Gatineau (race report here), followed by a bit of a break for the juniors. We're now in the middle of our last big block of training before the key races (for most) in August. Despite the focus on quality training, we've still found some time for racing. Dorelle kicked things off with a new 5000m pb on the track in London, the night before Gatineau. Angela Quick was the top overall female the next day at the Olympic AG race in Gatineau. Connor Hammond claimed his second junior national title in the junior mens race, with Alexander 4th, Tyler Bredschneider 9th, and Ian Donald 12th. Alexander, Dorelle, Angela and Tom were back at it a few days later in a local 5k, with 3 new PBs (Alexander, Dorelle and Tom) and a SB (Angela). Then came the "Belwood PTC smackdown" three days later, with most of the squad racing. James Loaring was 3rd, behind very strong performances from Dave Sharratt and Ryan Smith. Alexander posted the fastest Belwood run split (ever) to finish 4th, with the rest of the crew posting solid performances close behind. And Angela was the top woman (overall) again. This past weekend, Dorelle travelled to Quebec to race the Magog elite (draft legal) race; she had a good lead out of the water, soloed the entire 40k bike, and then ran in for second (and a paycheque). Not to be outdone, James raced the Sarnia Bluewater triathlon, making up the chase format stagger over the women for the overall win, and Steven Hewick was 2nd overall at the Bala Falls Triathlon. Tonight, Alexander tackles a 5000m on the track in Kingston.

Busy days.

Most of the squad will race one more event as a tune-up for Can Games or Kelowna Nationals. Some will race K-Town, while others will compete at Niagara or Windsor.

That's the quick update for now. Time for our Tuesday steady ride.





Monday, July 27, 2009

MONDAY MORNING ABSENCE


I would like to apologize to my team-mates for my absence on deck this morning. I had an electronic mishap and did not wake in time for practice. I hope you can forgive me so that we may proceed with our training this week on the best of terms.

For those of you concerned about my fitness, do not worry. I will be on deck at 11 to make up for lost time in the pool.

For those of you who did not notice my absence, I think we may have a few more apologies to hand out.

See you at the track,
Ian


Friday, July 24, 2009

IF WE SAW THIS ONE MORNING...



...I don't think anyone would be surprised. It's been a wet summer, and the squad just logged another workout in some epic weather. Through it all, they've done a solid job of staying focused on the task at hand. Good prep for whatever Mother Nature throws at us for the rest of the season.

Enjoy your weekend (rain or shine).


Sunday, July 19, 2009

THE LONG RUN FOR HOME IS ON...





A little inspiration for a Sunday afternoon. Love the commentary for the last race.



Friday, July 17, 2009

Thursday, July 16, 2009

COURAGE


"Courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

...or maybe you always win when you see it through. I can think of a half dozen examples from the last race alone, even though only two gold medals were handed out. Either way, a great post.


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

GATINEAU - THE BOYS' RACE





I have a quiet moment to close the book on Gatineau - let's see how far I can get in four songs with a post-race report....this one will be a little more "PTC-centric", and specific to the junior mens race (....and typically long-winded).

Similar to every other race we've been to this year (Lubbock, PATCO, Birds Hill, Coteau du Lac), the weather played a significant role in the race. Environmental factors often impact races, but this seems to be a particularly cold, wet and windy summer. With perfect summer days on Friday and Sunday, Saturday (race day) was punctuated by heavy rains and thunder storms which rolled over the area throughout the day. To their credit, the race organizers and officials kept everything on schedule despite delaying two race starts through the day due to lightening. The race crew worked like a well-oiled machine, and they put on a great race.

The junior races this year have felt a bit like family reunions; the coaches and athletes all get along really well, and I've had the pleasure of getting to know some families from other provinces over the course of the season. I'm sometimes surprised when I hear that coaches and athletes in other sports don't experience the same sense of community. We do joint workouts, support each other's athletes, send athletes to each other's programs, travel together, and trade schedules, macros and ideas. How else are we supposed to take on the world? We have a great sport, full of fantastic people; I always leave the races energized about the state of our junior programs and future possibilities. We just need more junior races and cheaper flights, or maybe we should just all agree to get together in the middle of the country for a 3 week training camp next summer; we could hammer out a sprint race every Friday night, and a relay every Saturday.

Back to the race.

We've had our fair share of training in the rain this year in Ontario, so the wet weather wasn't a major concern. Athletes just needed to keep the rubber on the road, and the payoff would be a fast run course in cool conditions. That was easier said than done through the turnaround on the bike; I watched at least 15 age-group athletes slide out on the same corner in the morning races, so we knew we'd have to be careful.

With this race being closer to home, and the Can Games Team selections complete, I ended up with a smaller group to take through the pre-race routine than normal; Alexander, Connor, Ian and Tyler. This was the first time I didn't have female athletes in the race. The starts for the junior women and junior men were only 45mins apart, so that made for some scrambling for some of the other coaches who had athletes in both races. I had the luxury of only focussing on one race. For my part, I didn't see any of the junior womens' race until the 1st lap of the run, but from all reports it was a dynamic race.

The guys warmed up during a period of heavy rainfall. I had lugged four trainers over from the parking lot (edit: with help from Alberta coach Angie Anderson), so our bike warm-up was in a sheltered area on trainers. We made some pre-race adjustments for some of the guys, which we'll probably use again at future races, and the warm-up was generally uneventful and smooth. The guys were marshaled and off in short order. Connor, Tyler, Matt Sharpe and Cole Stewart were out of the water first, and quickly got organized on the bike. Alexander had a good swim in the main chase group (which eventually included Vierula, Christin, Okany, Wilson, Thomas, Roles, Drad, and Howlett), with Ian not far behind. There were a few disappointments on the bike, including Bird's Hill medallist Mark Okany who flatted early in the ride after a strong swim. Riley MacCharles went down hard while leading the 3rd pack through the turnaround (check out Joel Howlett's video of the crash on facebook); David Mackie was 2nd wheel and managed to stay up, but Ian Donald had to hit the brakes and followed Riley onto the deck. Ian got back up and hammered back into the pack, but Riley's day was done. Derek Quick had some bad luck too, flatting on the last lap and running the bike 2.5k back to T2 (with his helmet on, to make sure he didn't get DQ'd).

Meanwhile, the front group of 4 held the chase pack to 20 seconds through three of four laps before Cole went down on the same corner that Riley had crashed on earlier. To his credit, Cole calmly got up, hopped on this bike, realized his chain was off, got back off his bike, put his chain back on, hopped back on again and got into the chase pack - all in 20 seconds. Grace under fire. I later learned that Cole had fallen on the same side that he had crashed on a few days earlier, so he was pretty sore, but stayed focussed. Even more impressive, Cole and Aaron Thomas managed to put 10 seconds into the lead group of 3 on the last lap of the bike.

Into T2, there were roughly 15 men who hit the dismount line within 15 seconds of each other, including most of the favourites. I started a stopwatch to see how much time would go by before Tristan Woodfine and Ian rolled into T2 - it would turn out to be about 1:30 from the back of the chase pack. Meanwhile, out on the run course, there was a great battle shaping up. Connor faded a bit through the first lap, fighting a stitch and falling as far back as sixth, but keeping his focus. Marc-Antoine Christin, Jason Wilson and Alexander Hinton were moving well, but Sharpie, Tyler and Cole weren't giving up any ground. Ian and Tristan were running hard in pursuit. On to the second lap, Connor redoubled his efforts and started moving back to the front of the field, eventually moving into first with ~1k to go. With a final surge, Connor put some space between himself and second, coming home for his second junior national title. Matt Vierula, Jason Wilson and Marc-Antoine ran hard through the second lap, refusing to fade against the hard charging runners behind. Matt seemed to run better as the race went on, backing up his 2008 National Championship with a silver medal, followed by Jason Wilson, and Marc-Antoine for bronze (and 4th overall). Alexander Hinton served notice that he'll be a force in the junior series next year with a strong 5th place finish (4th Canadian), followed closely by first year junior Tristan Woodfine who hammered out a race-best 15:12 on the run. Tyler Bredschneider ran strong for 10th place (9th Canadian) - a very impressive performance giving a recent running injury that really made training a challenge. Ian came in 13th (12th Canadian), posting the 2nd best run split of the day (16:15) after a crash and a hard effort to bridge back up to the pack.

When it was all said and done, only 0:64" separated 1st and 10th, with Ontario athletes in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 9th (among Canadians). The top 7 guys all ran under 16:50. It was probably one of the fastest/deepest top 10 at Junior Nats for the men.

My four songs are long over, so it's time to wrap this up.

Congrats to all coaches and athletes, from all provinces, on their performances. There were many strong races, some great examples of perseverance under difficult conditions, and some plain old bad luck. Everyone can take something positive from their efforts on the day, and I know the junior series races will be even better in 2010.

Check out Mark Bates' photo album of Nationals - amazing pictures.

For those families, coaches and athletes going to Canada Games, I look forward to the last family reunion of the season in Summerside.

CT


Saturday, July 11, 2009

JR NATS

Just back from the races at Lac Leamy. Hard racing from all athletes, challenging conditions with rain and wet roads, and lots of excitement right up to the finish in each race. Great day for the Ontario men with five in the top 10. Connor Hammond rallied on the run to take his second National title , and 2008 National Champion Matt Vierula laid it on the line during the run to finish 2nd. Alexander Hinton had a great race to finish 5th (4th Canadian), and Tristan Woodfine blasted the run to finish 6th (5th Canadian). Tyler Bredschneider had a great result, finishing 10th (9th Canadian) as he rebounds from a serious running injury 3 weeks ago. Ontario girls raced strong too, against a very strong field dominated by BC. Domi Jamnicky had a breakthrough race in 7th, and Joanna Brown scorched the run to move into 9th (that ByTown club can RUN).

I'll post a more complete update later. Great racing by all provinces - lots of strong performances and a few heartbreaks.

Congrats also to Angela Quick who raced the AG Olympic race in the morning, finishing as the first woman and 10th overall.

Junior Female results here.

Junior Male results here.




Friday, July 10, 2009

RACE MORNING

Just a quick note regarding the 11am race meeting at Junior Nats tomorrow. The race meeting is NOT mandatory for athletes. Athletes are welcome to attend (and coaches are expected to attend), but it's not mandatory for athletes.

CT


Thursday, July 9, 2009

GATINEAU PRE-RACE

For any interested Ontario Juniors:

We plan to be at the race site tomorrow (Friday) at 10AM to get in for a light swim, and spend some time riding the course. We'll return at 4PM for race kit pick-up and a short activation run. Feel free to join, but the first priority is always to stick with the plan your coach has for you....so check with your coach first.

No updates on the time or location of the pre-race meeting, so the info from the last post is still the most current info I have.

Pack some rain gear for pre/post race activities. There's a good chance of rain on Saturday, according to the forecast for Ottawa.


Friday
Jul. 10
Saturday
Jul. 11
Sunday
Jul. 12
Monday
Jul. 13
Tuesday
Jul. 14
Wednesday
Jul. 15
SunnyThunder- showersCloudy periodsVariable cloudinessSunnySunny
SunnyThunder- showersCloudy periodsVariable cloudinessSunnySunny
P.O.P.0%80%0%10%20%0%
High26°C21°C19°C20°C21°C24°C
Feels Like30-----
Low13°C16°C13°C14°C10°C7°C
WindS 10 km/hSW 15 km/hNW 10 km/hW 5 km/hNW 10 km/hE 10 km/h
24-Hr Rainless than 1 mm15-20 mm---close to 5 m






Wednesday, July 8, 2009

GATINEAU PRE-RACE MEETING

This is UNOFFICIAL, but it's the most recent info I have.

Several athletes & coaches have noticed that the Gatineau schedule does not list the pre-race meeting. The pre-race meeting is a regular feature at Junior Series Races, ITU races, and Championship races, usually held one or two days prior to the event.

I followed up with the technical director for Junior Nationals, and they have TENTATIVELY planned on holding the pre-race meeting at 11am on SATURDAY morning (race morning). The feeling was that some athletes would miss the meeting if it was held Friday, because they would not receive notice of the meeting. In order to ensure that as many junior athletes as possible attend the meeting, the decision seems to be to hold the pre-race meeting on Saturday morning. Currently, I don't know the location for the meeting, but I will update if/when I get that info. This info is still tentative, but it's the most recent info I currently have.

CT



Monday, July 6, 2009

GROVEZ

HUMBLE LAUREN GROVES

Written by: Herbert Krabel
Date: Mon Jul 06 2009
www.slowtwitch.com




Lauren Groves earned her biggest paycheck to date when she finished a very close third at the recent Hy-Vee triathlon. She also helped her Canadian team win a bronze medal at the ITU Team Triathlon Championships a day later. Lauren was kind enough to share some of her thoughts with us.

Slowtwitch: Congrats on that big weekend you had in Des Moines. Finishing 3rd at Hy-Vee and 3rd at the ITU Team World Championships will be a nice addition to your resume.

Lauren: Yes, it will definitely be nice to add to the resume! It feels like it has been a couple of years since I’ve had some solid results, mostly because of injury. It was back in 2006 that I had my breakthrough season with a 4th place at ITU World Champs and a World Cup best of 4th place. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever crack that podium so to do it twice in one weekend, with both a World Cup and a World Championship is more than I expected at this point in the season.

Full interview.

SUPPLEMENTS


HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
www.slowtwitch.com
June 30, 3009

“Would you like a boost with that?” the high school intern asked as I dropped by a local smoothie shop for a post-workout snack. That seems like a harmless enough question, right? Yes, for the most part, it is. However, lurking in that “boost” is a potential career-buster for the local pro, drug tested under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations. It’s not the protein, green tea or the vitamin C, but rather the potential trace contamination that these nutritional supplements may contain that can cause trouble.

Full article. Definitely worth a read.



Sunday, July 5, 2009

TRAINING PAYS OFF





FULL JUNIOR RANKINGS

Here are the complete Junior Rankings after the first two races of the 2009 TECK Junior National Series. These lists should be posted on the TriCan website soon, but with Jr Nationals a week away, I thought I'd post the complete lists. Seed order at Junior Nationals will be based largely on Junior Series Ranking, with top seeds going to the defending National Champions and athletes who represented Canada at the 2008 World Championships. Click on the list for a bigger version.







Wednesday, July 1, 2009

CANADA DAY, CAMP , JR NATS and RANKINGS


A quick update with some odds and ends.

First off, Happy Canada Day to everyone. I'm sure most athletes are taking advantage of the day off for some extra training, and I'm sure most coaches are working today in support of their athletes. Go Canada!

The OAT Junior Development Camp is rolling along very well right now, under the careful guidance of coach Jay Johnson. The athletes are working hard, training well, and hopefully learning a few new tricks. This morning we were up at Guelph Lake for a series of swim-bike intervals. The camp wraps up on Saturday after a big week of training.

Most of Ontario's juniors are in their final preparations for the 2009 Junior National Triathlon Championships (Triathlon de Gatineau) on Saturday July 11th. It should be another great event in what has turned out to be a very competitive Jr. Nationals Series this year. If you're in the area on July 11th, come by to see our future triathlon stars put on a great race.

Finally, the update 2009 Junior Series Rankings should be posted soon on the TriCan website. Here's a preview of the top 20 ranked athletes, based on the first two Jr National Series Races in Birds Hill, Manitoba and Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec.




JUNIOR WOMEN

1 Kyla Coates BC 200
2 Alison Hooper BC 145
3 Christine Ridenour BC 140
4 Joanna Brown ON 122
5 Hilary Wille BC 105
6 Rachael Edwards MB 85
7 Stevie Moore MB 84
8 Alexandra Coates BC 76
9 Domi Jamnicky ON 71
10 Amélie Kretz QC 67
11 Rebecca Staynor BC 62
12 Aliz Brien QC 57
13 Abby Miller SK 51
14 Nadine Brenaut SK 43
15 Jade Gregory ON 40
16 Alecia Lukash SK 36
17 Maghalie Rochette QC 32
18 Karen Ricard QC 30
19 Ellen Pennock AB 29
20 Lindsay Anderson ON 28


JUNIOR MEN

1 Cole Stewart BC 130
2 Tristan Woodfine ON 122
3 Mark Okany MB 115
4 Joel Howlett SK 110
5 Marc-Antoine Christin QC 102
6 Matt Sharpe BC 100
6 Connor Hammond ON 100
8 Alexander Hinton ON 70
9 Jeremy Roles AB 69
9 Taylor Reid ON 69
11 Matt Vierula ON 68
12 Karsten Madsen ON 52
13 Francis Hupe QC 51
14 Andrew Hall BC 48
15 David Mackie ON 47
16 Timothy MacLean QC 46
17 Ian Donald ON 45
18 Zorian Maksymec ON 40
18 Riley MacCharles MB 40
20 Jeramie Anderson SK 38