Yay Sarah!

Recently there was NCAA and Canadian Nationals.  First was NCAA's where sarah placed an astounding 71st, unfortunately her team did not qualify so she ran individually.  Shortly after Sarah hopped on the plane and headed to Canadian Cross Country Nationals in Guelph.  She placed 8th in the senior women category.

Here's  a picture from NCAAs:

and a video of the senior women's race at Nationals:

Basics

Here's a link to an very good blog post by RTC Guelph coach Craig Taylor about some basic principles towards training.

Riley Unger's Blog

Our program this fall includes some "team bonding" led by our new student sport psych person Christine. Every three weeks one person will be writing an update about training and such. Our very first one this week comes from Riley Unger.


Here it is:
The team has just lately got back into the full time training together. Due to cross country season just finishing there has been a lot of focus on running. So we were having morning swimming/strength and after school it was on your own training with our school cross country team and some biking in there too. The last 3 weeks have been fun and also some hard work in there too. We are just focusing on getting back into shape right now and back up to speed in our other two sports.

This week was an easy week following the last two weeks of hard training. In the first week of hard training, daryl came out with some heart rate monitors and gave me and a few others a wake up call about how hard the different zones are. Now we are required to train with heart rate monitors on the bike. It really helped with familiarizing us with the different zones.

Just recently we have started doing some outside of training team bonding. On October 29th we had a halloween party. After training that night we went out to six pines and got a little scared. We all dressed up in our halloween costumes. Riley M went out as a disco man, Janessa was road kill, Ashlyn went out as dorothy, Stevie went out as hannah montana/ lady gaga/ ....... she wore a blonde wig and everyone got something different out of it i guess. Charles went out as a great clown, the costume fit him perfectly! Tyler went out as a lion, rawr! Ben couldn’t make it unfortunately, he was in ottawa at the time, Darian was some beastly looking creature, and i went out as a christmas present. Everyone got some great and also not so great comments about our costumes. The lines weren’t the greatest but at the end of it all, it was a great experience and found out that tyler has a bit of a sensitivity to scary things(He came up to me and hugged me, i think he was just a little scared). The barn of doom was great and the best of them all. There was also the train of terror and a magic show! There was this one person on the train of terror that was just hilarious. Once we were finished all the activities there, we went back to Riley M’s place and got some halloween treats.

Saturday the team did their first 400m swim time trial of the year, and it was a solid effort all around, especially for this time of year!

Kelowna Race Report - By Nancy Drad

I have had the privilege to travel with the MNTC for the past several years to various junior elite races across Canada as either a parent or in some cases the team chaperone.  First, I want to express to each athlete how proud I always am of them and that I am in constant awe of the commitment each one of them has to this sport.   

The National Race at Kelowna was extremely special for me as it marked the end of an era in our family.  It was Joshua’s last race as a Junior Elite Triathlete as he has now aged out.  I know that I will always look back in time at these years as some of the best years of our lives.  It was a time when we got to travel around the continent and make friends with athletes from across Canada.  Many special memories and funny (and sometimes not so funny) stories will be told and retold around our dinner table for years to come.  This is just some of the many benefits that this sport has brought to not just our son but our entire family.   

To the athletes of MNTC your races may not always be what you want or anticipate them to be but to me they are something that I always admire and look forward to watching with such anticipation.   

Going to Kelowna was hard for me because I knew it would be my last time watching all of you.  Saturday morning was a beautiful day where the sky was filled with sunshine and the temperature was perfect.  As 9:40 am approached and the junior elite girls were announced I stood at the swim exit to secure my perfect spot so that I would be able to cheer the girls on.  Janessa was the only MNTC athlete racing but there are many other Junior Elites that I have met over the years and I do enjoy cheering for each every one.  If you were to ask Janessa about her race she would tell you that she was pleased with her swim and her bike but her run wasn’t what she had wanted.  This is Janessa’s first year as a junior and she is up against some of the strongest in the World.  Janessa biked really hard and was working in her pack to keep things going smoothly.  I had tears of joy in my eyes as I heard her name announced as she crossed the finish line in 19th place.   

The Junior Elite boys raced at 10:25 and we had six MNTC boys in the line-up; Joshua, Charles, Riley M., Riley U., Tyler and Ben.  They too were racing against the countries’ best junior elites.  I remember vividly when I first met some of those contenders and I always enjoy watching the races as anything goes.  The first pack out of the water contained Sharpe, Stewart and Quick.  Behind them came the chase pack of swimmers with Joshua and Riley Unger.  The next group was a longer procession of swimmers coming out of the water in a steady stream.  In that pack came Charles, Tyler and Riley M.   Within seconds Ben came out of the water eager to get on to the bike.   

The problem with being a triathlon spectator is that you can’t see the entire race.  I hurried up to the bike course (having missed the transitions) to watch the excitement.  I had been told that Kelowna has the best course for spectators.  The biking was fast and competitive.  Joshua and Riley Unger were in the chase pack but unfortunately Charles and Riley M. were both cycling on their own.  Not an easy task and definitely not what they had hoped for.  Tyler was cycling with a group and it appeared to me that he was able to stay with them for the entire bike portion.  Ben was working well in a pack and later told me that he had so much fun on the bike course.  Riley M. eventually caught Charles so for the end of the bike they at least had each other.   

I am always most satisfied when everyone gets off the bike safe and sound.  I stood close to transition and counted.  Joshua and Riley Unger came in and off they went.  Riley M. and Charles arrived safely followed by Tyler and then Ben who because he had a stress fracture ended his race after the bike. 

The run was fast and Riley Unger held strong finishing 8th.  Joshua’s run was not what he had hoped for.  He had to stop to throw-up several times, unfortunately for Joel Howlett’s dad, he had to witness this and he later told me it was not a pretty sight.  I can only imagine.  As Craig said, it takes courage to finish a race when you’re sick and Joshua found the courage to finish in 13th spot.  Charles, Riley M. and Tyler found their rhythm on the run and finished 16th, 18th and 22nd. 

Earlier in the day two of MNTC’s youth girls raced in the 14 and 15 year old category.  I was able to watch them finish their swim, bike and then run.  Ashlyn and Hannah both did very well finishing 2nd and 8th.  It was difficult to get to see everyone as so much was going on all at once.  The atmosphere was exciting with so many spectators out cheering on the athletes.  Well done girls. 

Sunday’s race had Stevie and Sarah-Anne racing the elite race against Paula Findlay who had just completed two amazing first place finishes on the ITU circuit.  After one loop of the swim both Sarah-Anne and Stevie were in the chase pack.  They held that position on to the bike course and for the first two laps they biked in the same pack.  Unfortunately Stevie got dropped on the big hill and ended up soloing for the majority of the bike.  Sarah-Anne remained in an excellent position as she entered transition two.  It was exciting to watch the run as they made 4 loops so you got to see the athletes often.  Sarah-Anne had an amazing run and finished 6th overall but 3rd in the U23 category.  Unfortunately for Stevie the run did not agree with her and she needed to end her race early as she was sick on the run course.   

As you can see, races aren’t always what they plan for.  No one plans to be sick, no one plans to cycle alone but the amazing thing to watch is the effort that each and every athlete puts into their race.  That is what gives me such pride and brings tears of joy to my eyes.  To me you are all SUPERSTARS.   In the words of Kyla Rollinson, the coach from Quebec who raced in the elite race to show her athletes that we do this sport not JUST to win but because we LOVE it.   

I am so proud of each and every one of you.  You all remembered Craig’s ABC’s of racing and showed him that you have Attitude, you Busted your Butt and you showed Courage.  You are all winners.

2010 Junior Nationals

Today was the first day of racing in beautiful Kelowna. The Kids of Steel and Junior Elites raced this morning in very nice conditions. A mix of results for MNTC out there today but most importantly a great effort by everyone. Congrats to Matt Sharpe from NTC and Joanna Brown from Bytown Storm for the big wins out there today!

Pictures and more to come.

Elite National and Pan-American Cup for the girls goes tomorrow at 11:30!

Edit:
Results can be found here for all races. (scroll down to the bottom)

Training and the race at Riding Mountain National Park - By Youth Dev. Athlete Darian Hole

30On Wednesday we did hill training at garbage hill in the hot, humid weather. We biked 6x 1 easy, 1 medium and 1 hard. My mom took pictures during the workout for her photography class and some look really neat! After we ran 4 laps, 1 easy, 1 tempo, 1 threshold and 1 cool down…… then we cooled down with slurpees!


The weekend was the race at Riding Mountain. Sarah and Riley U. raced the Sprint distance on Saturday. It was a cool day with winds gusting up to 35km/h and about 15 degrees outside and it was drizzling. After getting out of the water most athletes looked cold but when they finished they seemed OK. Riley and Sarah had a great race and came in first in their age groups, Riley first overall and Sarah third overall. Sunday was no better, if not worse for the KOS race. There was no rain but it was only 10 degrees outside with winds gusting to 40km/h. We did a duathlon because it was too cold but everyone still did well. Darian and Ashlyn were first in their age groups. Everyone else on the team that went (Riley M., Stevie, Charles, Tyler, Ben and Janessa) volunteered both days, and Sarah helped at the kids race on Sunday with them.

Good luck to everyone racing in Kelowna!

Here are a whole bunch of pictures:

Training pictures:

Saturday Race Pictures:

Sarah Anne happy to be out of the water 

Riley U coming out of the water

Janessa, Stevie, and Tyler helping out with the announcing

Sunday Race (KOS) Pictures:

Darian Hole aka Shark Bait finishing strong

Magog Race!

Junior Series Race #3 in Magog, Quebec has come and gone, Manitoba was once again strongly represented in across the races. Manitoba had athletes taking part in the U15 Elite Girls, Junior Boys and Girls and the Quebec Cup Elite girls races.

Now a little break from racing before Junior and U23 Nationals in Kelowna.

Here are some photos from race day:

Results

U 15s

Juniors

Elites

Magog

We arrived in Montreal early afternoon on Thursday and after making a few wrong turns trying to get out of Montreal we eventually made it to the motel in Magog. We had time to put our bikes together and head out for a ride on the hilly bike course.

Today we started off with a swim in the lake on the course, then we went out and rode the bike course again, followed by figuring out the challenging run course with a few minutes of intensity. After lunch we all went over to the mini golf course to play a round on the fun course!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days....

        

Weekend Racing Wrap-up

Racing both in St. Malo, Manitoba and Coteau, Quebec. Here is a short wrap up about St. Malo from Ashlyn:

This weekend most of the team went to Couteau de Lac to race. The others did the St. Malo triathlon. On the Saturday, Hannah and Darian both raced KOS. They did well each having some extra competition. The following day was the Sprint triathlon. Roseria and Sarah-Anne were both there. Roseria was the first out of the water and Sarah-Anne passed her on the bike finishing the sprint race first overall. They both had a very good run and finished strong. Ashlyn, who was recovering from a broken collar bone, did the run portion on a relay team finishing strong.

As for the Coteau race it was the first race in the Junior Series as well as a Pan Am Continental Cup for the elites.

Results are here:

Junior Men
Junior Women
Elite Men
Elite Women

Pictures from the Junior and Elite Races: 

and Junior Series Rankings after one race (some errors need to be corrected)

Coteau du Lac - Junior Race #1

We are in Coteau for the first Junior National Series race of the year and a Pan American Continental Cup. We arrived yesterday afternoon and today we went down to the race site for a little pre-race workout. Here are some pictures from the trip so far: