Cobwebs (partly) Removed

This past Sunday was my first competition since the Dec 1st, 2007 Canadian Cross Country Champs. I had built up a ton of cobwebs over the winter and the Caledon Triathlon was successful in removing some of them. In past years I have opened the season much sooner--but this year is much different with the focus being on coaching, and of course the Big Wedding this Saturday! Although I will be The Groom this Saturday, I was relegated to bridesmaid at the Caledon Triathlon with a 2nd overall finish in the 440yard swim (20 yard pool), 15k bike, and 5k run. Nobody could stop Yorke today, he was bloody strong. Not even Pre could stop him. Yorke--you are going down next time my good friend. The race has re-sparked the competitive juices and I will get my vengeance next race :-)

Actually, I am pleased with how it went down. I am swimming really well right now. My time trialing on the bike requires a ton of improvement--something I knew going into the race--and something that was confirmed during the race! I simply have not spent enough time playing in the saddle. I wish I could train more these days--but I have to make the best of my constant time poverty state. I ran well considering it was my first hard run off the bike. I have yet to do a hard brick wkt this year. But the season is very young for me, and while some are smashing it right now--I will be patient and hope to be smashing it soon (and when it counts most).

The Caledon Tri concluded a good week of training. The goal was to have a solid week since next week will be virtually a complete week off of training--with the Big Wedding followed by a short honeymoon in Niagara Falls.

Some good sessions at the PTC were put in the bank last week. Last Tuesday was an awesomely hard group ride with the Speed River Cycling Club. Wednesday was a solid tempo run with a MS of 2x3k hard. Friday was a big day of hurt. We swam at the Swimplex in Waterloo. The MS was 20x100m on 1:20. I averaged 1:09 for the first 10 and then 'had a go' and went as hard as I could and averaged 1:03 for the final 10. Then in the afternoon AD and I had a war in a solid run along the 2k Trillium loop that consisted of a MS of 2k hard, 8x400 fast on 2:00, 2k hard. We were both toast by the end of the set. Coach CT showed no mercy for me on Saturday. Forget the ez pre-race wkt that I was hoping for--instead I did an awesome 85k ride from my house to Milton, up Rattlesnake, up Sixth Line, and then back home. It is my favourite bike loop. I followed that up with a 30min run off the bike and then had a quick snack as I was excited to jet over to the Sharratt's to help Brian put together a new Signet Broil King BBQ. After putting the bbq together--it would have been a sin to not spark it right away. This therefore provided the golden opportunity to consume the perfect pre-race meal: chips and dip and a quarter pound of chocolate fudge for an appetizer. 2 gigantico fully loaded burgers and 3 different salads and 2 pops for the main course. Unfortunately I was too stuffed to indulge in any form of dessert. Now I know that some of my athletes might read this--so all I can say is "do as I say not as I do".

So that is a training update (finally!) T-minus 4 days until the wedding! I am looking forward to making things 'official' and calling my beautiful fiancee, my beautiful wife :-)

Loaring Triathlon Sponsorship Brochure

I would like to express a huge monster thanks to the many supporters and sponsors who have provided incredible support in sponsoring the Loaring Triathlon. We have currently raised almost One Hundred Thousand Dollars for the Elena Loaring Memorial Fund for breast cancer research! The Provincial Government will match dollar for dollar all monies received!

2008 Loaring Triathlon Poster

Amherstburg Kids Cancer Ride

Loaring Physio will be on hand to support the Amherstburg Kids Cancer Ride. For those roadies and tri-geeks in Essex County--consider incoporating your long ride in with this event.

Spinergize

This is a collage of pics from Spinergize 2008. It was a fantastic event that I was proud to be a part of.

In this collage, am I:

A) teaching kung-fu while Jane is intensely watching a kung-fu DVD

B) explaining proper pedaling efficiency while Jane is focused monitoring her Spin Scan on the Ironman 70.3 Clearwater CompuTrainer course.

I am really looking forward to Spinergize 2009!

LPC Athletes Firing On All Cylinders

A big congrats goes out to my big sis Char for successfully tackling the Beast and having a blast at the 70.3 St. Croix. Perhaps when she finds time--she can have another guest appearance and submit a race report (she is a MUCH better writer than I am). LPC athletes Jane MacLeod and Ralph Iannitelli also conquered the Beast and qualified for the 70.3 World Triathlon Championships! Champions!

Lisa Cheney and Kathy Henry did in fact fly across the finish line at this past Sunday's Flying Pigs Marathon in Cincinnati. Lisa had all the stars align for her while setting a new PB and obliterating her MRP (goal marathon race pace), crossing the line in 3h42min. This time qualified Chainz for the 2009 Boston marathon. In looking at her GPS data--Lisa actually covered 26.2miles in 3h39. The race was delayed due to a fire and had to be rerouted. The last second change to the course added 500m to the marathon!

Kathy Henry came oh so close to qualifying for Boston. It was her second fastest marathon ever, (in a total of 10 marathons) and Kathy will get another crack at the Boston standard in the fall. Champions!

Rob Tranter continued to impress by taking the win at the Path to a Better Heart 5k.

This Sunday will have LPC athletes tackle the Mississauga Marathon and the Forest City Half Marathon.

Happy Training,
Coach James

Loaring Triathlon Brochure

Link Blitz

April showers are behind us and May flowers greet us. Hmmmm-it certainly did not work out that way as the month of April brought us some beautiful (and much anticipated) weather for outdoor riding and running. The month of May, however, initially greets us with rain, rain, and more rain...

LPC at the Races

A big congrats goes out to all who participated in the 2008 Boston Marathon on April 21st. LPC's John Savoni toughed out a sub 3h15min performance--a time worthy of automatic qualification for the 2009 Boston Marathon in the men's 40-44 age category. What was most impressive about John's performance is that he had to endure severe leg cramps in the final miles of the race. John will be participating in his first triathlon this summer. We sat down months ago to plan a proper plan of attack that would get him a good result at Boston, while simultaneously developing his swimming and cycling skill set. With a full time job and three children to help care for, John never ran more than 3 times per week for this marathon. But every run had a purpose and John trained very well and supplemented this marathon training with swim/bike conditioning. A jog well done, and next time he will follow his race-day nutrition plan to avoid (or minimize) the leg cramping!

A must see video of the finish of the 1982 Boston Marathon--the epic "Duel in the Sun"


The Wojtowicz mother/son combo pounded out big runs at the St John Waterloo Half Marathon this past Sunday. Both set PB's for the half marathon distance. In fact, Margaret's time was a whopping 15minutes faster than her previous best. Margaret will be representing Canada at the upcoming ITU World Triathlon Champs in Vancouver. Rob will direct his attention towards prepping for Ironman Lousiville at the end of August.


Weekend at the Races

Path to a Better Heart 5k Run/Walk & Kids' Dash takes place this Sunday at 9am at Malden Park in Windsor

LPC's Ralph Iannitelli, Jane MacLeod, and Charlotte Loaring will be tackling 'The Beast' this Sunday at the prestigious and awesomely challenging St. Croix 70.3 Triathlon. Track their progress live at http://www.ironmanlive.com/

LPC's Kathy Henry and Lisa Cheney have set their sights on flying through Sunday's Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. They have worked hard for several months and hope to fly across the finish in a time that will earn a place on the start line of the 2009 Boston Marathon.

The US Women's Triathlon Olympic Trials will be aired on NBC this Sunday from noon-1pm

The Richards Bay ITU World Cup is this Sunday
You can always follow the action live at http://www.triathlon.org/
For some world cups--there is even live audio and video feed.
This race will be quite exciting as the Battle for Beijing heats up


All systems go for the upcoming July 19 Loaring Triathlon
A monster thanks goes out to the community for their volunteer and sponsorship support! Online registration is available here

Get a jump on the triathlon season and participate in the upcoming May 31st Belle River Du/Tri

Do a rain dance this weekend to scare away the rain. If it does rain--then don't spend all your time looking at these links. If however, you successfully breeze through this post and still have a couple of hours to invest in some excellent reading--then I direct your attention over to the most excellent Science of Sport blog.

Happy Training,
CJ

Friday Morning Lights and The Stag

It has been an eventful three weeks since I last posted. Friday marked the end of a solid three weeks of training. We had on the menu another 1500m TT. It seems to be a PTC ritual to swim a hard 1500m or 2000m at the end of our 3 week mesocycle when fatigue levels are at their highest point--an event that I will now refer so as "Friday Morning Lights"--a time when you have to HTFU despite wanting to sit in the jacuzzi. Coach CT is a wise grasshopper and there is in fact method to his madness. I toughed out a 17:31 (new practice PB) despite being quite tired. Add in 3x300 in 3:27 on 4:15 after the 1500, and you have a solid 2400m main set and a quality 4500m swim workout. Done and done and in the bank. I am really pleased with my swimming at this point in the year. Each month seems to get faster and the 'harder yards' have yet to begin.

The weather has been fantastic the past couple of weeks--and we have had a few good bikes and runs. It has been a real challenge trying to train like an elite athlete--while working like an age-grouper with too much overtime and not enough sleep. But don't for a second think that I am complaining. Achieving balance is a wonderful on-going process of life. I am truly enjoying: growing LPC by coaching several champions and spending countless hours learning new ways to build upon my coaching philosophy and methodology, helping my big sis as a consultant for Loaring Physio, being a race director for the Loaring Triathlon (which will soon surpass the $100 000 barrier in raising funds for the Elena Loaring Memorial Fund for breast cancer research), and of course, helping organize the upcoming wedding with my beautiful fiancee. To be truthful--Bre takes the huge bulk of the credit, as does Brian and Janet, for their incredible wedding organizing efforts. Bre even put together this wonderful website. She is such a sweetheart--I am one lucky chap :-)

So I certainly have a lot of projects on the go and this is an extremely exciting time in my life. Long gone are the days of 'living the dream' and worrying about little else then sleeping/eating/training/racing. Although I can't train (and recover) as much as I have in the past--I still believe that this will be my best year of triathlon racing. The season will get to a late start but the fitness is slowly building and I hope to be race worthy by the middle of June. Although stress levels are a wee high at times, and time management skills are constantly being tested--I can't stop smiling and look forward to each day. Less than five weeks before my wedding. Wow!

Saturday was a VERY special day. A day that will never be forgotten. A full day of bonding with all of my 'Band of Brothers'. Saturday was my stag. My numero uno, Miro Tot, and the rest of my incredible groomsman helped put together a magical day. It is rare for all of us to get together with our busy schedules. But this past Super Saturday--we jammed in a month of activity and a decade of memories. Six of us started the day at 7am and headed to Michigan to ride the beautiful Potowatomi Trail.

Then we went Rock Climbing in Ann Arbour. It was my first time rock climbing and I had such a blast.

We were pretty tired by the time we got back to Windsor--but Red Bull gives you wings and in a flash it was off to a feast of celebration with thirty of my closest male friends. What a day/evening.

A monster thanks to all who joined for a part of this wonderful weekend. Stay tuned for my next post that will be introduce the key members of my Band of Brothers--the Groomsmen.

The Spirit of the Marathon