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.

GAVE ME GEAR THANK YOU DEAR

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.

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.

RELAY

iPhone update:

WOMEN
1. BC
2. MB
3. ON

MEN
1. BC
2. ON
3. MB

more later.

DAY 5: SPRINT TRI

A bit late with this post, but here we go....

Tuesday we raced the first of two events, a draft-legal sprint triathlon. We had hot weather (30C+), moderate to strong winds, and some choppy water before the women's race (10am) with calmer water for the men's race (12pm). Water temp was 24C, well above the wetsuit cut-off.

In the women's race, all three Ontario women had strong swims, with Dorelle Hinton firmly in the lead pack, and Domi Jamnicky in the back of the lead pack. Joanna Brown swam very well to be in the chase pack, only 0:50" down on the leaders. Unfortunately, Domi lost her chip in the swim, and was stopped on the run to T1 by someone from the event timing company, who insisted she replace her chip. She lost time in the exchange, and ended up missing the front pack; frustrating for an athlete who made the front pack at Nationals. We protested after the race, but the competition jury decided not to adjust Domi's time. The front pack consisted of Dorelle, all three BC athletes, and Manitoba athletes Sarah-Anne Brault & Stevie Moore. They rode hard, while Domi fell to the chase pack which contained Joanna. Team tactics came into play as the Manitoba athlete in the chase pack worked to slow the pack down and open the gap between Joanna and the lead pack. To her credit, Joanna realized what was happening, and worked to limit the damage as much as possible. The BC team also employed a team strategy, keeping their three girls together through the bike. Out of T1, the difference between packs was ~0:50", and by T2 it was ~2:30; the chase pack lost ~:35" per lap. On to the run, the BC girls and Sarah-Anne Brault moved to the front. Dorelle started conservatively, and built through the run, in order to manage the heat. Alison Hooper (BC) pulled away in a decisive move on the 3rd lap to take the win over Sarah-Anne. Dorelle took back ~0:20" on Kyla Coates and Christine Rideour on the last lap of the run, finished 1 second behind 4th. Joanna lit up the run course with the fastest run time, coming home for 6th, and Domi stayed focused on her race for a strong 11th place finish.

In the men's race, Connor was comfortably in the front pack through the swim and into T1. Ian was on the end of the chase pack out of the swim, but he lost a few seconds in transition and missed the bike pack. A mechanical issue on the bike meant some further challenges for Ian, but he stayed focussed and raced hard. Tristan came out with a few athletes, and two of them quickly got organized for the ride. Through the bike, the biggest pack was the front pack of 6 (and later 5), containing the BC Team, Joel Howlett (who had a great race), Connor and Brad Piggot (NS). With the small field (29 men) and some good winds, the chasing riders were reduced to packs of 2-4, with several riding on their own, and the lead pack making time on the rest of the field. Phillips (BC) opened up a gap into T2, and pushed the run to stay clear through to the finish line. Connor ran with the pack for most of the first lap, before finding his rhythm at the half way mark, and coming home for 2nd ahead of Cole Stewart (BC) in 3rd. Ian and Tristan had their work cut out for them coming into T2, and both guys attacked the run right away, moving up to 12th and 15th, respectively, with the two fastest runs of the day. The run was likely short - we'll try to get an accurate measure before we leave (edit: I measured it this morning at 4.6k with a Garmin).

In addition to the podium, teams also score 'flag points' for the overall Canada Games title, awarded to the province with the most flag points at the end of the games. The top two athletes in each race scored points towards a team ranking. BC was the first team in both races. In the women's race, Manitoba was second, with Ontario third. In the men's race, Ontario was second, with Manitoba third.

At the end of the day, the BC team took 4 of the 6 medals - a great performance for a great team. We've had some fantastic battles against the BC men this year, and we've been chasing the BC girls (with everyone else) all season long. Team tactics were employed in both races to great effect. Although we didn't employ any team tactics for the races, it was a great experience for our athletes to compete in tactical races, and great preparation for future events.

The entire Ontario team raced very hard, and should be very proud of their efforts. Congrats to Connor on digging deep to earn a place on the podium and bring home Ontario's third medal of the Canada Summer Games.

Everyone is looking forward to an exciting relay event tomorrow.

A few links:

Team Ontario Newsletter with a short race summary.

Official Canada Games results.

Chip Timing results.

Globe and Mail article on Team BC performance and tactics.

Ottawa Citizen article about Ian, Tristan and Jo.

Times Colonist article on BC win.

Video report on race.

RACE DAY #1

Race Day. Women at 10AM, Men at 12PM. We'll try to update with results.

In the meantime, check out the Team Ontario website. You'll find daily Newsletters, and a great Photo Gallery.

You can also check out the Canada Games website for start lists and bios for the men and women.