Getting back to the Grind!!

After a lot of thought I decided to call it a season after Syracuse. I am still recovering fromthe race, my calf's still get tight while running but I am enjoying mountain biking without that crashing cloud hanging over my head. The other day Krystal and I went up to 3 stage mountain biking, the riding was not that great because of the wet trails but had one of the most out of the blue moments I have had. Because of the wet trails Krystal and I decided to take the roads home. If you know me of course I need to take all the small roads convinced it is going to be a short cut. We start to cruise down this hill which was really big for southern Ontario (would have been about 10min to climb back up) and realize the road has been flooded by a beaver dam. We sat there wondering the best way around and were starting to take off our shoes when we started to hear a car coming down the road. We go to opposite sides of the trail when Krystal says "your not going to believe this" That's when the H1 Hummer comes around the corner. I start talking to the guy and he asks if we wanted a ride accross the swamp, haha!! No hesitation on my part!!!! So Krystal and I jump on and ride across. It went from a disapointing ride to something I will never forget. If you are ever in the Collingwood area maybe take a day and experience H1 Hummer Adventures.
Here is a pic that I got quickly, I thougt I was taking a video but only took a picture. You can still make it out

These last 2 weeks were very busy for me race wise. It was the first time I have ever done back to back 70.3’s so I did not know how I would respond. First off was Muskoka, it is my home town race so to speak, only being a 3 hour drive away from home. Everything leading in the race went perfect and I was ready for a big day. I felt great in the water and at the half way mark decided to take the lead to string things out a little before the bike. By the end of the swim there was a group of 3, myself, Paul Mathews and Craig Alexander. Paul hammered of the start of the bike and Craig and I were unable to go with him. I rode with Craig until the 65km mark where he started to pull away from me. I ended up 1 min down from him and Raynard Tysink (sp) who passed me late on the bike and 4 min down from Paul. I went really hard on the bike trying to stay with Craig and I payed for it on the run, I started cramping and had a hard time just getting to the finish line. I ended up 6th getting passed twice on the run. One spot out of the money which sucked but really not a bad race considering the quality of field.
My next race was in Syracuse NY. it was a last minute decision but I came out of Muskoka fairly well and since it was close thought it would be a good idea. I did recover well during the week and felt better and better. During the race I decided not to lead the swim and try to save some energy for the first part of the bike to give myself a better chance to stay with Paul who was doing the double as well. I tried as hard as I could with out overdoing it at the start of the bike but I just could not go with him and Andrew Yoder and settled into my pace for the rest of the 90km. Getting off the bike I was surprised that everyone was saying I was in 2nd, I thought I was 3rd but I guess Andrew pulled out somewhere on the bike, so that was a present surprise. I was running pretty well to start, I usually know within the first 5km whether it is going to be a good run. In Muskoka that's when I was starting to cramp but in Syracuse that is when I started to feel like I could start running faster. I was eventually passed at the 5 mile mark by one guy but was able to hold on the rest of the run and finish 3rd, my best finish in a 70.3 event.
Not sure what the race plan is now, there might be another race but I know a lot of time is going to be spent planning the rest of the winter for the Ironman Austria group.

All photos are courtesy of Don McCormick dmccormick@muskoka.com

Nationals in a Few Days

Been a while again between posts, I did well for about 2 weeks then let it slide again for a few months. So what has happened?
The first race of the year that I really wanted to well at I ended up getting sick right before the race and spent the Wednesday and Thursday in bed sick so my body was just out of tune for the race, as well as I ended up crashing while dismounting. I landed really hard on my hip and really affected my run. A local photographer was able to get a picture of me mid crash and it appeared on the cover of the local paper. Thanks Kevin Stroud Photography for the photos.


From the Lens of Kevin Stroud Photography
13 Veterans Way, Huntsville, On P1H 1P3

To recover from the fall I took a week off and skipped the Michigan 70.3. It was a great week off where Krystal and I were able to spend some time at our cottages. It was a great couple of days.
I was back at it at the end of the week and started my hard training towards Nationals. It took a few days to feel good again. I was still feeling a little sluggish until this weekend when I raced the Windsor Triathlon, it is one of the few races in Ontario with prize money and I wanted redemption for Muskoka because I knew I was fit enough to win. The race went exactly how I wanted it to, leading out the swim, then trying to stay close to Len on the bike and run hard until I knew I had the victory.
This last week has been prep and fine tuning and I am starting to feel really good and I am excited to show that my Olympic distance racing career is not over!!

Later

First week home

Been a busy first week back in Caledon. Spent the first few days in just getting everything back in to order, clothes put away, bike stuff organized and everything else that needed to be done after being away for 3 months. Krystal left for the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas on the Tuesday so we only got to see each other for 2 days before she left. One of the days were her birthday though, I am just getting used to being 26 and now she is 27, where does the time go.

This last weekend we had the McMaster Tri Clinic in Hamilton, it was supposed to be a 3 day event but turned into 2 days. This gave us Friday to train ourselves which was nice except for the rain. Saturday was the big day and it went very smoothly besides the 100km/h winds on the bike which made the long ride a little shorter. Sunday how ever was really cold and after 3 months away -3 felt like -100, I was not very happy at the start of the ride but as I got into it I started to come around.

tomorrow morning is a quarry swim, not sure if it will be swimmable after the last few nights of sub 0 temps but I will give it a try. Then a nice speed run later in the day.

Well that's about all, going to watch the last period of the Pittsburgh - Montreal game, hoping the pens knock them out!!!

Xterra Vegas Pre Race

Just a little clip from in my hotel room while getting ready for my first ever Xterra Triathlon in Las Vegas

Vegas Baby!!

Well it is not that exciting, although I am heading in the Vegas direction I don't think I will actually make it to the strip. The race is in Henderson which is just south of Vegas but at least I will be able to see the lights.

This will be my first ever Xterra race and I am really looking forward to it. There is no pressure on me and no one thinks I will be a factor in the race. I guess I don't even know if I will be a factor. I have never really done a real mountain bike race so I have no idea how fast I am. I hope I am pretty quick because I do love mountain biking and would love to be able to do more of it during the summer. If I get blown away though I think the bike will have to be put back into the garage until the season is over.
I am all packed up and ready to go and just about to head to bed because I do have an early start tomorrow. Also I am planning on pre riding the course tomorrow with my helmet cam so I can review it tomorrow night and really get to learn the curves. It is amazing how much of a difference that can make. In some of my training I would do multiple laps and would always get faster in the later laps and I am sure this is because you learn your way around.

Stumbled upon this picture the other day and made me miss it. I have a great new one thanks to Gears Bike Shop but I had some great races on this bike, now I just have to create the same memories on my new one!!! I will leave you with the only mountain bike picture I have

Getting in the Groove

Don't really have much to say but I wanted to get into the rhythm of keeping the blog going on a more regular basis.

Today Hans, Bob and Andrew did their first workouts in Tucson and started with a 5000m swim, then a 2 hour hard mountain bike, I am still getting comfortable keeping my speed over some of the technical sections but I am getting better. I think the trail that I took today will help though, it was just a big rock garden, I thought it would be hard to go down but it was actually easier the faster I went, just floated over the top of the rocks. Off the bike I just did a 20min easy run and felt good.The Rockey trail (Sutherland trail)

Thats about all, just another biking picture, later

Long Time Coming

Hahaha, yeah I know it has been a long time you don't have to remind me. Finishing up the last few weeks here in Tucson getting ready for my first race in Las Vegas. It is going to be my first Xterra and I am really looking forward to it.

We have been in Tucson since Feb 12th and spent the first few weeks working with the Personal Best Training Camps. After the Camps were over we had some time to get some really good training in and Dave and I have not let the opportunity go to waste.

This next week I have some faster more specific workouts leading into Vegas and Dave is starting to get ready for Florida 70.3 so our training is going to take some different directions for the next few weeks but our last training camp gets here in a few days so there will be some other guys to train with while Dave is doing his longer stuff.

Anyways that is everything summed up pretty quick, here are a few videos of some riding I took with my new helmet cam.



So that took way to long so I am just going to put links to the other videos

Golder Ranch Mountain Biking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgcJQDG6XeI

That's all for now, hopefully it will not take 5 months to update again

Sean