Spot the Tourist

First off, congrats to Triathlon Code team mate Matt Sharpe on his win this weekend in San Fran. And not to be out done, we also got a canuck on top in the women's race, congrats Sarah!

Very brief San Fran race report: Decent swim...smooth T1...terrible bike...slow T2...brutal run.

Video of the women's race shows me a couple times, like getting lapped on the run. gahhhhh. I wish I has been wearing a sign that said: I TRAIN. I SWEAR. MY LEGS JUST DON'T SEEM TO BE WORKING RIGHT NOW.

ok...onto something else.

Played the part of the tourist in San Francisco for a couple days post race with the best momager you could ask for.

Tourist Shot

Muir Woods

Full House

Next up for me is OAT provincials and my hometown race, K-Town tri. Let's just say the next couple weeks will be spent trying to work out the sting of this last race.

Coteau du Lac

This weekend I raced my first ITU event of the season. I'm starting to get used to a mid day start and I really enjoy being able to get a good sleep, get a short jog in before breakfast and having a bit of time before the gun to get organized.

I was called onto the pontoon in 8th position and decided to choose the right end, guaranteeing clear water on one side. I had a clean start and immediately looked to my left and made my way over to some of the faster swimmers. I thought my first lap was smooth but fell back a bit on the second lap exiting in 4th place. T1 was clean but before I could even think about who was just up ahead and around me I dropped my chain. I tried my best to coax it back on but got frustrated quickly and hopped off, and put it back on by hand. Lead pack was long gone by this point. I knew it wouldn't be long before the second pack would swallow me up so I got my shoes on, and tried to refocus. The ride went smoothly for the most part. I worked hard and did a better job then I have in the past in positioning myself well into the turn arounds and corners. The biggest mistake I made was allowing the strongest rider in our group to get ahead of me into one of the corners and she and another rider got a gap. I gave everything to go with them but was not successful. Both ended up getting a gap on our group through the second half of the ride.

Coming off the bike I was feeling a bit light headed but tried to stay steady. The first half of the run felt good but the wheels started to come off in the second half. I was able to place 8th overall. Technically my best ITU finish but feels a bit strange when there's only 16 to start. I'm finally feeling like my training is starting to come together so I'm looking to improve on my run off the bike over the rest of the season. Next up is the continental cup in San Francisco in less then 2 weeks!  

Photo Update

This coming weekend I will be road tripping with a few fellow RTC-G'ers to beautiful Coteau du Lac for my first ITU event of the season. That means fewer sessions this week and allowing some rest to soak in. It also means more hanging around...hmm...maybe I can get ahead in my summer course?! ha. In the mean time here are some recent photos.

KW Classic

Post Race story exchange.

Tempo on the Nats course.

Milton Triathlon

Celebrating Angela's graduation with Coach CT

K-W Classic

This morning I raced in my second ever cycling race. Unlike the first race I competed in, it was a shorter route, just over 6km per loop. Since it was so close by and it seemed like a good way to practice some technical riding during a race setting, Jason, Zander and along with my wonderful mother woke up early and drove to Kitchener.

The women's start was a combined start for Elite 3, Jr, and Master's categories. Unlike the men's race, we had a time limit instead of a set number of loops. They told us that after we had completed 2 loops, the total number of loops would be calculated. Which meant we were told after the 3rd lap, that we had 4 to go...almost half the race was already over!

The main goal heading into the race was to try to stay on my bike and in one piece. Second, was to get a good workout and work on being better positioned in a group when going around 180's, corners and down hills: all aspects that make me nervous. And nervous, equals scared, equals sloooow.

As each loop went by, the hill really broke up the group and during lap 5, two girls (who I went to highschool with, go KCVI!) rolled off the front. Major lesson, always know what's going on!! Since I really had nothing to lose on this race, attempting to stay with them would have been fun but once they were gone and the group attempted to get organized, it was waay too late. The last two laps were spent with a now smaller group of around 6. We made a few feeble attempts as a group to get organized, but it really came down to a sprint. On the last little rise, I went to the front, pushed and led into the small chicane before the last straightaway. Still need to work on that last sprint! Ended up 4th in my category.

I'm really glad that we were able to get to this race. Both my mom and Aunt Mary were able to come and watch. It's always nice to have some fans. Going around one of the corners, all I could hear was "Goooooo Dodieeeeee!! hup! hup! hup! hup!" CT, I think Mom learned that one from you!

2 more weeks until the first bigger race of the season, just enough time for one last block and then some rest.

Milton Race Report

Today I raced my first tri of 2011 at the Milton Triathlon, part of the Subaru Triathlon Series. Results can be found here. We took the time last week to take a quick look at the course, having never done this race before. And what a course! The bike included the infamous 6th Line Hill, and definitely one of the hilliest runs I have ever done. To be honest, I was most nervous for the swim...especially the start. We've only been in the lake once this summer and it always takes a few times for me to get back to being used to the feeling of chaos!

New Suits!

Warmup and prep in the morning went smoothly. I couldn't believe how quickly warmups were done and we were waiting in the water for the start. The start was fine, and I could tell that I was moving well after the first buoy and was able to get out of the water in 6th overall. Onto the bike, I felt ok, and spent most of it keeping an eye on my power meter and seeing how many I could keep behind me. I was passed by Leanna on the bike, and came into transition just ahead of Domi. Domi and I left T2 together and at the top of the first hill, CT told us we had 45secs to Leanna. At first my legs were feeling terrible. But around 1k in I was able to get some rhythm, only to have the 2nd big hill switch me back to my shuffle. I caught Leanna just before hitting the 3rd big hill. I hadn't seen this part of the run before and I had no idea it was coming. Once I realized that yes, I would have to get to the top, I tried to make my shuffle a little more efficient. Finally around the top of the loop, we were able to come down, down, down. I'm pleased to be able to come out on top at my first race of the season. There's just something about following the leader bike!

3 more weeks until my first ITU race of the season in Coteau-du-Lac!

Home Sweet Home.

Last week I was able to head home to Kingston for a an extended long weekend. Highlights included some quality time with the over 70 population during rec swim, re-visiting some of Kingston's great bike routes and trails, biking with my MOM (and being quite impressed!), getting destroyed on a hilly ride with my Dad and his crew, coffee and shopping with friends and a BBQ with neighbours. phew.

It was great.

AND thanks to my wonderful parents I was able to drive their van back and now have the luxury of a vehicle in Guelph for a couple of weeks...ohhh the possibilties!!

My latest Triathlon Code update is now up. I don't believe I have made my formal introduction so here it goes: I'm joining 5 other athletes and with the help of Mr. Whitfield, we are looking to help support our triathlon endeavors so that we can keep focused on training and racing. So far we are being wonderfully supported by Specialized and Gears Bike Shop, Vega, Champion Systems and Nineteen Wetsuits. I'm looking forward to being a great representative.

Whoops!

Six and half weeks already? Whoops, seems like time has been flying by!

SO, let's see, what HAVE I been up to...

Ran a 5k...wasn't too impressed but that's where I was at, I guess. Have to start the season somewhere.

Then I got sick.

Finished my 4th year research project! That was a relief.

Ran a 15k road race, in a blizzard, in mid april. That one quickly turned into a training run. Won a bit of cash though, so that was nice.

Then I got sick.

Competed in my first cycling race. That was a lot more fun then I was expected. Ended up third in my category (need to work on my sprinting skills...) and got a surprise prize in the mail this week, so that was nice.

Finished exams! That was a relief.

Got excited that it was summer and I could train!...maybe too excited.

Then I got sick.

Hmmm....there's a bit of a pattern here. Not sure I like it. Ok, took a step back, plan is to take the intensity down a notch for a block or two and just try to get some consistent volume in. Frustrated Dorelle.

In other news, I have been living in my new apartment for a week now and loving it! Its been fun setting everything up and figuring out a new place. We are hosting our first RTC BBQ this weekend, we'll see what everyone else thinks of our little place.

Draft Picks are in!

Ian and Alexander tried to get the RTC to do some last minute March Madness brackets a couple weeks ago. However, that didn't really catch on, especially when we found out they were only trying to make some free money off of those who don't stay up to date on their NCAA basketball!

Instead, the boys came up with with a plan for the WCS season and we did the draft picks this morning. 2010 ITU rankings and WCS rankings were spread out over a table at the University Centre and an hour later we were each set with a team of 4 men and 4 women.

Points will be accumulated for our athletes' 5 best WCS races. Trades can occur before Kitzbuhel and Beijing. I'm sure this is going to start more then a few arguments at the hot tub over the season!

My picks...

Female:
Lisa Norden, Kathy Tremblay, Hollie Avil, Nicky Samuels

Male:
Alexander Brukankhov, Sven Riederer, Reinaldo Colucci, Kyle Jones

Good luck to all the Canucks in Mooloolaba this weekend!!

PSYC*1100

While the majority of my HK friends are finishing up their grad school applications and patiently waiting for a response, this week I was doing my course selection for next fall. Looks like an interesting mix of first year psychology, second year genetics and third year biochem...all the courses I procrastinated on taking! I'm banking on my friends having old notes and midterms. This semester continues to fly by, only 4 more weeks of class. My exams fall on the first and last day of the exam period this semester (nooooo!). Then its time to move!

I've lived in the same house for the past 3 years, but this spring I will be downsizing from a house of 6 to an apartment with two fellow RTC'ers, Angela and Jason. Do we count as the first official RTC house?! This new place will cut my 12 minute walk to the pool in the morning in HALF...meaning half an hour of extra sleep a week? watch out.

And finally, I'm not a big fan of complaining about the weather...there's nothing I can do to change it right? However, watching the snow come down outside today and knowing at this point last year we did our first long ride outside makes me a little sad. Oh well, tempo in the slush it is...

Hiccups

Well last weekend didn't quite go to plan, but sometimes you really need things not to go right so you can appreciate when they DO go well. Some shoulder pain on Monday kept me out of the pool all week and I was not able to compete with the Gryphons at OUA's.

Although disappointed, in the end I was very happy with my decision. By Monday it had loosened up considerably and with daily treatment I was able to get back in the water twice so far this week. Not perfect, but getting there. Thank goodness!!

We are in the 6th week of classes and midterms are almost done!! Florida on Friday...forecast looks awesome, I can't wait. We just got an outline of the schedule for the week and I'm so excited to eat-sleep-train for 10 days. Orange groves, here we come!

Foooooood!

Not only was yesterday a snow day but a very large box goodies also arrived at my house! THANKYOU VEGA! As the intensity of workouts as been increasing, I have been slacking on making sure I am taking in calories directly after workout and their bars and smoothies will definitely help with the rush from the pool to class. I'm looking forward to trying some of their flavours OTHER then chocolate...maybe.

At first I wasn't too pleased that school was cancelled yesterday for a snow day, my midterm that was supposed to be last night was postponed a week! But in the end I got to sleep in, didn't have to rush through my workouts to get to class, and watched a movie with the roomies. Sooo thankyou, snow day!

One more week until the Gryphons host OUA Champs. I will be swimming the 400 and 800 free and the 400 IM. Still trying to figure out when I can get an official 1500 TT done (the university system still doesn't let the ladies go for the mile!), perhaps it will have to wait until March.

Trial #1

This year I decided to substitute one of my "normal" courses (the lecture-lab-midterm-final type) with my own research project. I contacted the professor I wanted to work with last year (Dr. Lawrence Spriet...aka the Gatorade Dr.) since I knew I wanted to focus on exercise physiology. First semester was spent researching my topic, reading as much as I could of already published literature, figuring out what I wanted to test and how I was going to do it. Finally this semester I've been able to start testing!

Yesterday I completed my first trial and I was pretty nervous.  I've been the athlete being tested before, but this time I was the one doing the testing! 1 trial down, only 31 more to go...

The "final" for this course is a 10 minute presentation I have to give to my supervisor and his graduate students along with a written paper of my work. I'm definitely enjoying seeing what it is like to do my own research, although I may not be saying the same thing once I am trying to finish all the data analysis.

Today is the last of a few days of regeneration here at the RTC and I think it worked as I'm looking forward to the next block.  AND my flights to Florida are booked!! Hurry up reading week...

Singing Lessons

This week we welcomed the newest member of the RTC, Jeff Scull. I feel bad for anyone who comes into our group without prior knowledge of Alexander and Ian (aka DJ ASH and IDrizzy), but Jeff seems to be holding his own. Those two are quite the pair, and they certainly make early morning swims much more entertaining!

Both Alexander and Ian are trying to learn guitar this semester and apparently make a go at a singing career...

In other news, I tested out Ian's hypothesis today on 11AM swims. A few of us had a conflict with the early swim this morning due to a breakfast with the Director of Athletics and a room filled with Academic All Canadians. I KNEW there was a reason to get good grades: free quiche! Anyways, 11am swim it was and I think the jury is still out about the benefits on swim performance at 7 vs 11 am. Perhaps more testing is needed.

School is picking up this week with labs and assignments beginning to pile up. Ah well...Florida in 1 month (yes, I am already counting down the days!).

Syllabuses

New semester. New blog. We at Guelph had the luxury of 3 full weeks off during the Christmas break but we are back at classes today. Time to read over those syllabuses. My classes today seemed like they will be interesting, I just hope they announce the midterm dates soon so I can book tickets for our reading week training camp!

I'm happy to be back in Guelph. Training at home is always a nice change of pace and of course meals cooked by someone else taste much better (thanks mom and dad!), but being back in the pool this morning with Coach CT and the rest of the RTC was great. CT reminded us today that we have 5 more weeks until our 1500 TT's. That also means 5 weeks until Angela and I compete at OUA's. Eeek!!

Happy training!