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The Crystal River Sprint Triathlon took place on the Saturday following the 4th of July. 227 athletes registered for the 2nd race in the series and the entire day went very smooth. Everyone had fun and we saw some fast times at the finish. Nat Faulkner from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada wasn’t bothered by the heat as he took a significant lead during the bike, averaging 26.5 mph, and turned a scorching 56:54 for the course to win the Overall Male Title.

After the great Canada Day celebration… I drove to Albany, (fyi googling Albany airport and driving there will result in a regional jet-free airport, luckily I was far enough ahead of schedule that I could turn around and drive the Albany International Airport) (more…)

Though it’s hard to judge this type of thing, I have heard from reliable sources that the Muskoka Chase, or Muskoka Long, is the second largest triathlon in Canada behind Ironman.

I have been training, but not too much, as August and September will be really big months getting ready for Hawaii. For now my main objective is swim improvement, stay fit, and fresh. With that in mind I have dramatically cut back on my training… what does that entail? In the ‘easy’ 6 days before the Muskoka race, I rode my bike once, ran 3x, and got in 7 swims.
I met up with Phil V and here is the correct Sable Goggle web address. As I mentioned before there isn’t a more optically correct, higher quality goggle (check this review). If I wasn’t getting these free I would be buying them! When I felt something nibbling my toes before the swim start, a glance showed me a it was a turtle. (more…)

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So I have had a few really great, but slightly whirl-wind final weeks in Clermont FL. The last 2.5 being with some great people rocking out solid training camps.

A few Tuesdays ago there was a spring road race in Lake Louisa. Sean and Epic Cycles, were converting my TT Bike to a Road Racing machine while I was mailing e-bay stuff. It was tight, no time for frills like bar tape.
Gear for Multisports has been helping me out, family dinners, and the likes. So if you need sneakers at lower (US) dollar rates, and less tax, talk to them about the shipping to Canada Options.

Also thanking my close Clermont friends, Epic Cycles for Race wheels, and much more. I can’t emphasize how great these guys are. Even if you don’t like bikes, just sit on the leather couch, watch TV and enjoy a beverage. (more…)

So after my last post (Wed?) I found out that there is another local race here in Clermont… The 25th Great Clermont Triathlon. You can still enter, because I believe that I just did**. It took me a while to convince Coach Barrie to allow me to do this, but he just relented. Now instantly I’m quivering with nerves (literally) at the though of racing again. Any questions? I’m an tri addict. I’m sure I’ll be yapping again Mon/ Tues to tell ya how the race went.
Otherwise because of the travel costs associated with races and the fact that I have reached my primary early season goal… qualifying for Ironman. This is much ahead of my predicted schedule. So until October 11th I don’t have any big races I will taper for. (more…)

So I have been slowly working up my training, secretly in August, and then I came out of the Triathlon closet in January to do full on training the. But this is the first of my 5 big races this season - and all those months of nerves…

I have been waking up at 5am, but not being able to fall asleep until midnight or later!
Let me sum up:

Race day 3 h sleep, a bowl of oatmeal, 2 meal replacements…. set up with 2000 other people in the dark, blast around for a bike warm up, in the dark. Short jog, watch the sunrise while Sean takes off in the Pro wave, one last long pee in TL’s wetsuit, and it’s Go-Time. (more…)

So I did it.

I won my age group and am headed to Kona. (more…)

So after all the training the first true test is coming up. Essentially I have been super nervous this entire week, especially as the micro taper has progressed, and I’ve been more recovered.

Sean and I received a Specialized Care package Monday, from Gears - so I got my new Specialized Tri shoes.. good enough to save 10 seconds on my transition, and above that avoid my having to worry about the straps and buckles hassles.

The first bummer of the travel was that we were each dinged $100 for our bikes in the airport. We debated taping them together and saving one bike fee, but that would have put us in the over weight bracket as well.

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