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May 2008

Hey Folks!! There's been lots going on these past few weeks so I thought I'd send an Monday morning update.

 I have a Vulcan spot to sell.  If anyone wants it let me know.

1. Yesterday I saw a few of you on the rode riding!! It was wonderful to see friendly faces out there, even if it was just in passing. I know a few of you were newly introduced to Horsecreek Loop and I hope you loved it as much as I do!  We did another loop that starts with Horsecreek and goes by the little hamlet of Bottrel then to Lochend road and back to Cochrane. It's a hilly challenging route but it's about 93k from Cochrane round trip, so a great training ride!
2. I have some very tardy CONGRATULATIONS to give out on some amazing efforts by TTL athletes!  I'm going to highlight the athletes in the past few weeks who have had great days for one reason or another.  A number of other TTL athletes have raced, and not all races have gone as planned and not all TTL athletes have achieved PR's.  That being said, every single member of our team who toed the line at a race in the last few weeks has learned something so all is never lost!  I often tell folks that the tough ones are much better "teachers" than the great ones when it comes to racing.  I really believe that!  So... where to start!  I'll start with yesterday and move backwards.

So... what's happened in the life of Team Tri Life lately!

• Tracy McQuillin ran the Vancouver marathon. She'd had nerves all week and we had a good chat about mental tactics for her event. On paper, she was set to have an outstanding race... sometimes that breeds anxiety. So... what happened!  SHE HAD AN 8 MIN MARATHON PR... her previous best was 3:40...  yesterday, she ran a 3:32!!!!!!!  She called it the race of her life when she called me!!! CONGRATULATIONS TRACY!
• Daniela Widmer, my running nurse from Vancouver.... ran the half in Vancouver yesterday.  DW as I call her isn't tall but man can she run!  She had a 4 min course PR yesterday to fun finish in 1:41:44!!!  WAY TO GO DANIELA!
• Boston:  (oops... I went back to far but I'll leave it for now!)  Doug Barker not only had a STELLAR race at Boston, but he represented TTL well and re-qualified for next year one of the toughest and most crowded races in the world to finish in 3:32 and changed!  Did I mention he's 50!!!!  Way to go Doug!
• Trish Thorne:  Trish is PRíng every race she goes to thus far this year.  She even got 3rd in her AG at the Rocky Mountain Soap 5.5k run the day before the Police Half allowing her to collect what I understand is a beautiful hand blown necklace as a prize! CONGRATS!  Then, at the Police Half Trish had a course PR the next day.  She's getting older but getting better!!!!  (Trish also pr'd her 10k at the Glencoe Icebreaker the day after a 1 1/2 hour run. She's on fire!) 
• Nola Steininger:  WOW!!!!  A 20 min PR at the Police Half to hit 1:52!!!!!!! She ran the race of her life and was THRILLED at running faster than she ever thought she could go!  Maybe I've finally convinced her not to socialize so much on the race course!!! (Kidding!)  CONGRATS NOLA!!!!!!!!!
• Roy Ellis... he's new to running having taken a learn to run clinic from me last April. (That's 1 year ago just incase you're wondering.)  He ran his first half in 1:44 in Canmore, then he went 1:38 at the last chance half... and at the Police Half... on a VERY TOUGH course, Roy had a what he describes "leisurely" and somewhat unfocused race to finish 1:36 and change!  WOW!  Roy also PR'd his 10k at the Glencoe IB by 5 minutes!  Apparently this boy likes running!
• Phil Buote:  Phil had a BLAZING fast 10k at the Glencoe Icebreaker and finished in 42 minutes!  A stellar time for any athlete, but considering Phil has been running for about a year, OUTSTANDING!  Then at his first half marathon, he BLEW US AWAY with a1:37 finish!  Phil has more in the tank and I'm excited to see what he does as the year progresses.
• Richelle Love:  What can I say about her! She has raced and trained for a number of years, but this is her breakthrough year!  Richelle shattered that challenging 50 min 10k with a 48 min 10k at the Glencoe Icebreaker!  A big 10k PR for her. Then, at the Police Half, she went for it, and had beat her previous best at the Kelowna half marathon (the much flatter than the Police Half Kelowna Half Marathon) by 5 min to finish in 1:48 and 11th in her AG!  WAY TO GO!
• Pamela Harling... Pam wanted badly to PR her half marathon at the Police Half!  Well, goal accomplished! She took 10 min off her previous best time!  WAY TO GO!!! I guess Ironman training has it's benefits! 
•  Cindy Chetley Thomson: Cindy lives on a farm outside of Cochrane and has a 5 or 6 month old infant and a 2 year old.  Somehow, she has managed to get all of her training in in prep for GWN, and, hit her "magic" goal of breaking 2 hours at the Police Half.  She has a stellar race and a pr at the Glencoe Icebreaker. She sends me these wonderful updates every week where she talks about her kids steeling her sharkies and the cows along the way as she runs.  Todays report is written from Mowab where she is mountain biking with her husband.  Not only is she killing the other riders on the trip, but the final note on her training log is "milk production is out of control"!!!!  When she contacted me to coach her I thought she was nuts taking on half ironman training with a new born.  I was wrong... she's amazing! (And funny too! I told her she should publish her logs.  They keep my laughing!) 

 Honorable mentions for "non-race result" stuff...

• Maureen Ng deserves an honorable mention... she has a broken wrist and she still ran the Police Half with a cast and a smile on her face!  She can't swim, but she's put aerobars on her bike to rest on, and she's riding indoors like a fool while the rest of us are doing these amazing rides outside!  Her perseverance will get her to the start line at Stony!  I'm proud of you Mo!
• Another honorable mention to Caroline Ang.  Caroline broke her shoulder at the Worlds Masters Championships for Nordic Skiing in early March.  She has stuck to her goal of finishing IMC however and got out for an excellent ride yesterday.  Her running is coming along, and after a great deal of discussion has decided to to Great White North on far less training than she would have had without the injury.  Keep going Caroline!
• Joanne Zawada.... JoZ has come through pneumonia to have the best bike of her life yesterday!  Now that she's well and training she's totally pumped to get to GWN for her second Half Ironman, 40+ pound lighter and much stronger than she was last year!  GREAT JOB JoZ!
• Kent Milloy: Kent has had a CRAZY work and travel schedule, but he's managing to get his workouts in for the most part, and he had a stellar race at the Police Half missing his PR from the Hypothermic Half by only a minute on a much tougher course. Kent is doing IMC this year, and I'm blown away but how much training he's fitting into his crazy life! 
• Kelly Dinsmore... Kelly started with me in January and I gotta tell you... she HATED running!  Well, I got an email from her this week about an amazing... yup... amazing... 18k run in Sundre!  She's been a varsity swimmer in the past, and she prefers water over land, but we might slowly be converting her!  Great run Kelly!
• James Davidson:  He has never swam... could not swim... did not put his face in the water. That was then, this is now! James has been working DILIGENTLY at swimming for the past 4 months and he's making great gains!  His reports on his progress are stellar and I can't wait to see the improvements!  James also was not a runner, and tried running on his own which only resulted in injury.  We backed him up, slowed him down, made him take walk breaks, and he's on route to his first 10k and his first triathlon in Vulcan.  James is no longer a cyclist! He's a tri geek now!!!! 
• Sarah Pearce:  Sarah has an "unfixable" injury in her hip but is moving forward with her quest to reach the start and finish line at IMC.  When Sarah started with TTL we didn't think she'd get a 1 1/2 hour run in ever... especially not this early.  With a combination of the elliptical and running, she has ran 1 1/2 hours straight'!  (Maybe a little stubbornness thrown in there too!) 
• Alfred Han... Alfred did not want to do the Police Half.  He was out.  After some gentle "prodding" from me he decided to give it a go even though he hadn't ran for 2 weeks partly because of a medical procedure, and partly because of travel for work to Europe.  Well, I won't say that Alfred had a great race, but what I will say is that he took his result, felt crappy about it BRIEFLY, then decided screw this, I have a Half Ironman to do and I need to get to work. I was very proud of his attitude and how he took a result that is far beneath his capabilities and looked forward. 
• Cynthia Chang... kind of the same story as Alfred minus the medical procedure and trip to Europe. She had a less than stellar Police Half, but rather than pack up and call it quits, she decided she had work to do to get to Stony and her attitude shifted!  I saw her "flying" on her bike yesterday on Horsecreek... I think she was even smiling! 
• Sue Edmunds... Sue again was not a swimmer.  Yesterday at Red Rock Tri Club Swim, I watched Sue swim better and more relaxed than I've ever seen her swim before.  She is busy with her job, and 50+ (I won't say how many plus) years old, AND she's heading to the start line of her first half Ironman at GWN.  The new and improved Sue in the pool will set her up for a good day at Stony.  Great Work Sue!
• John Bosma:  John had a great lesson at the Glencoe Icebreaker.  He took the first 5k slow, and then HAMMERED the second 5k to have an almost ridiculous negative split.  John's time was good... really good actually... but he said he learned he can push himself through pain for the first time. I think that lesson will do him well at IMC.
• Karen Fisher... Karen is a single mom who has the insane job of teaching grade 6 full time!  She has raced twice this year and had really solid results in both, especially considering the pressure on her time and the trip to Dubai she took over spring break. She's headed to GWN for her first half Ironman too this year, and as tough as it is to do the work, I know she'll get there. 

I feel so lucky to all of you on our team!  We are off to a great start this year and I'm stoked to see what the upcoming months bring!  I know there are more stories and tales of obstacles overcome and lessons learned, but that's all I can come up with right now.  Thank you for letting me coach you:)

 Don't forget the the Team TriLife Hill Climb is on Tuesday night at 6:30.  We had a GREAT ride last week and climbed Gleneagles hill 2 or 3 times! (Riders made the choice as to how many times to do it!)  The maps and directions for the ride are on my website. Next week we time trial on Horsecreek, but this week is another hill climb.  No excuses if you think you're too slow either... everyone is told (not encouraged, but told) to ride their own pace!  Cresting that hill is an accomplishment on it's own!  I hope to see lots of you on Tuesday! 

 Jerseys:  I have a box of jerseys here that I'd really like to get to their rightful owners!  Please make arrangements with me to pick it up or figure out a way for us to meet so I can get it to you. They are spectacular!!!!!  Have a great Monday kids!