trying to breathe.

The last two and a half weeks have been frenzy-ing-ly busy. I can make up words like frenzingly because I have a master’s in English.

My day looks like this: 6am wake up. Do work for the online course I’m taking (why, why, why did I take this course!). Eat breakfast in the car on the way to swim practice. Swim 4k. Go straight to my first swimming lesson. Teach non-stop until 6pm. I’m going to repeat that because 9hours straight of swimming lessons is really difficult. So…teach non-stop until 6pm. Come home. Straight out the door for workout #2. Suffer like a person who just stood in cold water and yelled at kids for 9hours straight. Eat something. Get to my computer by about 9pm. Do online course stuff for 2 hours. Fall asleep around 11pm. Repeat.

In all of this, I have managed to find time for Amy, and to train. Swimming, in particular has been going really well. Yesterday we did 3X6X50 on :55 (avg. 33highs), followed by 4X400 on 5:30 (with paddles). I swam all 4 in 5:11-5:13. So that was sweet. At night I did 5X1k running in the heat (after, of course, the swimming craziness). It went so-so (3:15ish for all of them).

I thought Coach would go a little easier on us this morning. No such luck. Main set was 6X100, 600, 5X100, 500, 4X100, 400, ALL on a base 100 time of 1:25. Essentially, I swam 3k straight. But I made them all so that’s grand. I drafted off Tom like a champ though.

So yeah. Big weekend coming up. Amy is watching me race this weekend and so I’ve asked coach if we can rest a little more than normal going into it. He agreed. And since “chicks dig scars” it’s time to go to the well.

kind of like an apology

First things: thanks for the compliments on the video. Glad you enjoyed it.

Now on to more pressing matters: an apology.

Here’s the lowdown. The Peterborough Sprint Triathlon went off at 9:00am. After 750m of swamp-like swimming (no kidding…I could actually use the weeds to pull myself through the water), we jumped on our bikes for what was supposed to be a 20-k-ride-alone-without-sucking-wheel-bike. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly what happened.

It went down like this. After 2 or 3k I rolled up behind a “group” of 4 or 5 cyclists riding “quite close” together. Now, because there was 4 of them (riding “side-by-side”), I had to brake, and tuck in behind them. Isofacto, I “sinned” for about 15seconds. There just wasn’t anywhere else to go. My frustration soon got the best of me and I yelled, “Too close!” Shocked (I think they thought I was a course marshall), all 4 of them turned, looked me, and immediately stopped “what they were doing” [I hope my intentional avoidance of the D word has not gone unnoticed].

Anyways, they let me by. I spent the next 10k mostly “on my own.” However, “on my own” could be loosely translated as, “no one was in front of me.” But every time I turned around, what did I see? You know what I’m talking about. Something that looked like a Tour de France paceline. Pacelines of this sort are not legal. Insofacto, they are illegal.

But then, to my shame, I became a “violator” myself. For the last 3k, I went back and forth with another athlete. I passed him going up hills, he passed me going down hills. And I know there were moments when my front wheel was too close to his back wheel. I was trying not to do “it,” but when you’re continually going back and forth like that, “it” sometimes happens.

The last k of the ride treated me to a harsh rebuke from an athlete (or two) who came up behind me. So that wasn’t pleasant. As I got onto the run, I could hear his words in my head, and it was very difficult for me to push the pace knowing that if I beat him, he would think it was because I did “it.” Insofacto, I didn’t push, hoping that would serve as a kind of “sorry I did it, but can we still be friends?”

Sometimes this kind of stuff happens, and it takes away from the sport a bit. So I’m sorry for that.

If anyone who reads this was beaten by me today (I finished 5th overall), then I’m sorry that it went down like this. I figure you can add 15-20 seconds to my time. And that’s kind of like an apology.

In unrelated news, I saw “The Incredible Hulk” last night (the new one with Ed Norton that was filmed in Toronto). Amazing! If you’re a marvel geek you’ll love the ending [Warning: spoiler coming]. Tony Stark (who later becomes Ironman) says to the guy who created the Hulk, “we’re putting together a team.” And the dude replied, “Whose ‘we‘?” Oh snap.

a video!

Hello hello.

I have a brother who is a genius. Mikey accompanied me on a run a did yesterday, took some video, and came up with an AMAZING little short film. In it, I suffer badly, talk about why I got into triathlons, and give some insight into why I do what I do. I hope you like it.

Mikey tells me this video is part of a project that he’s working on that looks for ways to combine body, mind, and soul. I’ll post his website link when things are ready.

the greatest thing.

So I was showering this morning after swimming. I had just gotten thumped by 6X400 on 5:30 where despite Tom’s urgings that I “beat the set before it beats me,” Coach had to adjust the pace times for me. I’ll “beat” it next time.

So yeah…the shower. I got to break out a new bar of soap today. Irish Spring. The green bar. And what a lather it kicks up. I hardly had to scrub. And as I’m hardly scrubing away, I thought “there’s just something special about a new bar of soap.” 

It’s going to be a good day.

catch-up.

My apologizes for the delay in posting. You know those weeks when you have very little to do, and as a result you get even less done? Yeah. That’s what I had. So let me catch you up on the lifestyles of the rich and famous…or perhaps, I’ll just tell you what I have been doing for the last week.

I do three things, really. I train. I do things that might help me get a job in the fall. And I talk to Amy. Doing those three things really takes up a lot of time.

Update #1: Long Course racing is really long, and really boring.

I suppose it was one of those things when coach and I thought, “It’ll be good for you,” “it’ll build strength,” and/or “it’ll be fun.” Well, I suppose it was all those things, but I think we missed the one that said, “3-hours-of-just-below-threashold-effort-hurts.” And hurts badly. After racing it (”it” being a 2kswim, 55k bike, and 15k run), I learned a lot of things: it takes a heck of a lot of focus to swim 2000metres without getting plain bored; muskoka is really hilly, and really bumpy; and if i don’t conserve my energy (even if I’m feeling good), the second half of the run always hurts more than the first. So there it is. Lessons learned. And we’re ready for the next one.

Coach also decided it would be good to tack on one more week of hard training before a rest week. So this past week was a little tough. It looked like: 3k swim, 30kbike, 3k harder swim, 35minute run, 2hr hard ride, a 3k swim, and another 2hr ride. I felt like garbage for all that. But THEN I did a great run (3k, 2k, 1k on desending pace), a solid 3hour ride, and one of my best swims of the year (24X100 on 1:35…got down to 1:12s which is like swimming with a motor for me). So that’s good.

Update #2: I applied for a lot of jobs

Some good things happening here. Maybe a long-term position (”long-term” meaning 6-9months) in the Toronto area. So we’ll see.

Update #3: I hung out with Amy, and we went to the best wedding ever!

My cousin Sophia got married this weekend. Welcome to the family Jeremy! Italian weddings are really something. You eat all morning in preparation for sitting still in the ceremony. Then you go back to Nonna’s house and eat in preparation of eating at the reception. Then you go to the reception and eat and drink for a couple hours in preparation for the midnight snack. Then you eat for another hour or so to prepare for going to bed. Then you sleep. Then you wake up. And go eat breakfast. After all that, you feel really good about yourself because you know you’ve consumed enough calories to last for several weeks. Or that’s how I’m trying to swing it.

Me and Amy.

My very Italian family.

The beauty (ful) bride and the beast.

Yeah….

Update #4: Sharratt Destroyed Everyone At Guelph Lake

Props to Dave Sharratt for really lighting it up at Guelph Lake. For the time being, I’ll concede that he is a better triathlete than I. But don’t take my word for it. You can read it here.

Update #5:I won’t take so long to update next time

competitive spirit?

From time to time I need a reminder. It’s a reminder about sport, and why we’re all driven to do it, and how if we make it life and death, we’ve kind of missed the point.

Like today. I was running down the beltline in Toronto. And the trail was packed. Packed. Like, constantly weaving in and out of people, dogs, and humidity packed. And I’m lost in my own little world, worrying about all my little junk. About how I had a sore calf, or how I didn’t feel particularly bouncy, or whether my legs would be “there” when I needed them at tomorrow’s race. But as I ran towards Amy (who was walking the dog going the other way), she had this wonderful little smile on her face and a highfive waiting for me. And as I slapped her hand, it was almost like the sense was slapped back into me. Smile, pal. You can run. So run. Run free. And be happy because of it.  

And then I was at the Muskoka race course, about to jump in for an easy pre-comp swim when a middle aged gentleman approached me. He had overheard Chris, Danielle, and I talking and apparently it “sounded like we had done this before.” He was about to compete in the sprint race and was wondering about wetsuits and water temperatures and the like. As we conversed, I realized that even though this man would be several minutes behind after the swim, he had come to the race to compete. To challenge himself. To achieve a goal. Speed was relative. He was going to go as fast as he could, and he was going to feel good about himself at the end of it.

Or maybe an incident from World Triathlon Championships sums up some of what I’m talking about. One of our national team athletes, Kyle Jones, had his swim cap stripped off his head during the swim. Being that the water was in the low 50’s, his entire body froze, and he couldn’t use his hands, and he certainly couldn’t undo his wetsuit. This sucks because Kyle’s work habits are legendary (Kyle once said to me after swim practice, “No matter what, the hardest worker always improves” and he’s certainly proved that). Anyways, as Jonsey ran out of the water, a french athlete lent a helping hand…

As I left the conservation with the middle-aged-swim-guy he said, “Are you here in the competitive spirit?” Arrogantly, I did some silly looking arm swings and smirked as I moved on. If I could take it back, I might have said, “Just like you are.”

let’s play a game.

Let’s play a game called, See How Much Water You Can Drink Without Going Pee. If we played yesterday, I would win. And win badly.

In other words: I rode 90k yesterday, and ran 10k immediately after (finishing at the hottest point of the day). I thought I had drank enough on the ride, but the last 3k of the run convinced me otherwise. As soon as I finished, I chugged 1.5litres of water in the Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot, and then ate an orea McFlurry (it was certainly earned!). Over the next several hours, I drank another 3litres of water [that's almost 5litres total]. And I didn’t even feel the need to pee until 4hours later. Since then, I’ve been flowing like a fire hose. So I think equilibrium has been restored. Which is good, because the fun starts again tomorrow.

Friday’s fun looked like a math equation.

4200m open water swim (6×400 des 1-3)
+1 hour break
+1:45minute ride with some threashold-type intervals (I had a really good ride today!)
+Immediately into 10X400 with 200rest (broken as 4, 3, 2, 1). I ran between 1:12-1:16 for all, and felt strong.
+Immediately diving back into the lake to cool off.
+30minute ride home.
____________
=7 hours of triathlon related activity

Here are a couple pictures (stolen from the PTC blog) from a workout James and I did on Friday.

Muskoka is this weekend and I’m really starting to feel strong. We’ll see what happens!

Also…Props go out to Tom. Season debut, and a big W! Atta boy.

are you kidding me?

1 dead as car plows into Mexican bike race

Police say American driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep at wheel

MONTERREY, Mexico - A car plowed into a bike race along a highway near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one and injuring 10 others.

The 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the race Sunday, police investigator Jose Alfredo Rodriguez said Monday.

A photograph taken by a city official showed bicyclists and equipment being hurled high into the air by the collision.

Rodriguez said Juan Campos was charged with killing 37-year-old Alejandro Alvarez of Monterrey.

Authorities said the wreck happened 15 minutes into the 34-kilometer race Sunday along a highway between Playa Bagdad and Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas.

Campos said he is an American citizen living in Brownsville. The U.S. Consulate could not immediately confirm that.

“We are looking into the incident in terms of whether American citizens were involved,” consulate spokesman Todd Huizinga said.

—–

In other news, Craig has almost 5 hours of fun planned for tomorrow…and it’s supposed to be 30degrees, plus humidity. Water. Water. Water.

when greatness calls…

Okay, so this is worth telling: my blog has gotten 620 hits since yesterday.

Now, I’m a modest-kind-of-guy . I figured my readership was restricted to my girlfriend, my parents, my brothers, and my triathlon addicted friends (I still think that’s mostly true). And until half-hour ago, I didn’t realize you could check how many hits/day your blog got (my brother just told me, I promise). So we checked. And for the month of May, my blog got about 25hits/day. Much more than I expected.

Until today. When the numbers sky-rocketed. Seriously, the graph has this little tiny horizontal line throughout May, and then BOOM, vertical express!

So why the change? I’ll tell you why.

Because Simon Whitfield (who has his own wikipedia entry!) somehow found my blog and put a link on his to mine. I’m going to take this as evidence that the Canadian triathlon community is growing, and following our Olympic athletes (Simon, not me) diligently (which is great!). And just to be safe, I’ve included a picture from today’s race to keep me humble.

Post script: The race today was a big learning experience. I’m not going to make excuses but it seems my muscles had difficult remembering how to sight in the open water, ride up big hills, go down big hills, and avoid swallowing a lot of lake water. I managed to finish 8th place, with a decent time, and I’m confident I’ll learn from here.

Thanks for reading.

And go Simon go!

a quote a day…

This week in memorable quotes. Brought to straight out of the mouths of PTC members.

“If you hold your stroke count, you can do whatever you want.”

-Said when I asked coach if I could increase my speed if I held my stroke count. The set was 3X8X50 on 1:00, with the goal being to hold 37strokes/50m. My last round were all 33sec/50 (and I held my stroke count) and I felt in control the whole way.

“You need to HTFU.” [harden the F up]

-said by Tom due to my whining about the wind, or having to swim in the hot pool, or the cold, or not knowing the workout in advance, or any other number of things.

“This is what you’ll look back to in the race and think, ‘I can be tough’”.

-said by Coach with one 2k repeat left (after descending the previous ones 6:45, 6:36, 6:34). The last one was 6:30 with James rocking me with 400 to go. James gets an honourable mention for stating, “I had to keep you honest.”

“It’s HIM!”

-said by Angela when Craig heard a high-pitched scream coming from the 60degree lake and rightfully assumed it belonged to a girl. I should point out that there was no sun out, and it was really, really cold. I’ve included a couple pictures because this blog is sorely missing them.

And lastly: “I’m not going to get beat by any juniors!”

-Said by in me in reference to tomorrow’s Milton triathlon. Self-explanatory.

Checkya.