A few Pictures from Muskoka

Muskoka 70.3

Just got home from Huntsville after a great weekend away up north. I was lucky enough to get a room with Bob and Caron at the Deerhurst resort it was the perfect place to prepair for the race because it was within walking distance of everything. Krystal and I got up mid day on Friday and in time to get some training in. Saturday I did my basic pre race workouts and also was part of a pro Q and A with Craig Alexander and Miranda Carafre. That was a pretty cool experience

Race day came and I knew I was ready to have a great race based on how relaxed I was. I was joking with Krystal and bouncing around the hotel room at 5am. I walked over to transition from my room and got everything set up then walked to the swim start. I felt great warming up and was ready to go.

the race started and I was quick to find feet I was 3rd in line and felt comfortable the rest of the way. I was 2nd out of the water and 3rd onto the bike. Quickly there was a separation and I was able to get away with Craig, Richie, and Paul. After a very quick and hilly first 20km it settled down and the 4 of us rode away from the rest of the competition. At the 70km mark we got back into the hills and I started to find the pace a little to rich for me. I made the decision to let them go and ride my own tempo the rest of the bike. I got off the bike about 90sec down but feeling good, I ran really well for the first half and was on pace for a personal best half but the fast pace at the start of the bike started to catch up with me and I slowed down. In such a competitive race it caused me a couple of places but I ended up 6th and first Canadian.

The race was a huge confidence booster and motivator for the rest of the year.

Thanks again to Bob and Caron for allowing us to stay with them and of course to my favorite person in the world, who keeps me relaxed and focused leading into the race and who gives the best pre race massage, Thanks Babe

I should have pics soon.

A fresh Start

Just a quick update about the last few months, again I am saying sorry for not updating but I spent some time freshening up my blog in hopes to get motivated to keep it up to date.
the first couple of races were not the greatest but I ended up winning the prestigious Muskoka long course. I then did a few hard weeks of training for the National Long course Championships in B.C., I did not race very well but learned a lot. The nest big race I did was Steelhead 70.3 in Michigan where I did race well running within 2 min of Andy Potts for the 2nd fastest of the day. That day I ended locking up a few bones in my foot which did not allow me to go to Nationals, the first one I have missed in 7 years. I decided to take a few days off and went camping with Krystal which was great. I am over the injury now and have put in a couple good weeks getting ready for Muskoka 70.3.

I will let you know how it goes

Last Month

Although it was tough to leave family and friends Nat and I headed down to sunny warm Tucson to start to get our early season training underway.
The first week in Tucson had a little bit of everything. After spending 3 days in a car you can imagine we felt a little rusty for the first couple of days. We did a couple easy rides and swims kept the running to a minimum while our legs got rid of the rust built up over the off season.
The weather was perfect the first week here, we did not see a cloud and it was close to 70 every day. I think the first cloud we saw was exactly a week after we got here, we didn’t know what to do.
We have been here for 3 weeks now and can really feel the fitness coming back. We have been riding a lot more, this last week we got up to almost 400km and starting to run a lot more. One thing about Tucson is there is never a shortage of running trails. It is a runners paradise, all roads have wide gravel shoulders or if you want to drive a little out of town there is an endless maze of trails and you will never be able to run them all.
After coming to Tucson for the last 3 years I am starting to really know my way around but I am still finding new places to ride and run. Today we ran at Golder Ranch and followed the 50 Year Trail then went for a ride and headed up Oracle Road and decided to take Hwy 79 north towards Phoenix. We found a side road and followed that for a few more miles. It was such a quiet road through the middle of the desert. Unfortunately I had mechanical problem, a stick came up and took out my derailleur which in turn caused my hanger to come out of place which ended up smashing into my rear dropout cracking the carbon. Needless to say I had to hitchhike home. The third car to go by picked me up and brought me back to my car so it was not that big of an issue besides my broken bike.
The next week looks like it is going to be much of the same, perfect weather without a cloud in the forecast, slowly getting back into shape and enjoying the time here more and more.

Until next time