Canadian Commonwealth Games Triathlon Team BLOG

Photos From the Race

2006-04-12T13:41:00.000+10:00

Hello to those of you who still check back to our site.
We haven't decided what to do with the site yet but in the mean time I thought I would post some pictures and say hi.
All of us enjoyed the comments and feedback we got from the blog along the way. I couldn't believe how many people have told me that they were checking it out. I thought we had 10 people checking it, max.!
Anyways, we are all back to the basics of training, training and training. I am really happy to be home and fortunate to be back at our National Triathlon Center and training with hard working committed athletes.
There are great successes on our horizons.
I look forward to training and racing hard this year.
If you feel like it you can check out my website to keep posted (suzanneweckend.com)
Well, that's it for now.
Enjoy the photos and I will send another update when we decide what we'll do with the blog.
Best,
Suzanne

One week later...

2006-03-25T21:12:00.000+11:00

It doesnt seem like one week has passed since the race...went by so fast. I have been keeping myself busy by checking out some of the other events and enjoying the Melbourne nightlife. The events that I have been to see have been amazing. I saw a world record being broken in the pool and the worlds fastest white man (Craig Motram) in the 5000m. The atmosphere was amazing with over 80,000 spectators going crazy for him. I just got back from the track to watch him run the 1500 but unfortunately he was tripped up and went down. But one of our Canadians came 2nd which was excellent.

Thanks for everyones support and encouragement over the last couple months. It was fun keeping people posted with this blog. Maybe there will be more to come in the future....

Mooloolaba pre race

2006-03-24T17:51:00.000+11:00

The race that we spent 3 months preparing for is now over. My legs we incredibly sore for 4 days after the race. The small amount of run training I had been doing recently didn't seem to affect my performance much, but it did mean my legs weren't ready for 10km of pounding and so I suffered. I iced my legs in a garbage can full of ice and water twice a day and got free massages from the support staff in the athletes village. I am feeling recovered now with 2 days to go until the World Cup in Mooloolaba.

I flew from Melbourne to Brisbane, rented a car (a little Hyundai Accent) and drove to Mooloolaba. I have never rented a car before and am very excited about it since I am in the market for a new car. The Hyundai is pretty good (even with the steering wheel on the wrong side) but I still have my heart set on a Toyota Yaris. I got used to being on the wrong side of the road as a passenger, but driving on the wrong side is a whole different ball game.

The surf is really high here as there is a cyclone just off the coast. They are talking about moving the swim from the open ocean to a river nearby. We will find out for sure tomorrow. It's good that they have a contingency plan, that way the race won't get cancelled outright.

I am hoping to repeat my performance from last weekend. If I finish in the top 20 I will get a World Cup ranking point. Top 19 is 2, winning is 50. If I can grab a few points I will be able to qualify for World Championships in September. Top 20 will be fine, top 15 will be better, and top 10 will be a very good finish. I guess we'll see what happens.

Paul

Post Race from Suzanne

2006-03-24T15:40:00.000+11:00

Hello Everyone,
I apologize for not putting an update up sooner but it's been a bit whirlwindy since the end of the race. I am focused on maintaining the huge fitness gains I had while preparing for my team support role and trying to enjoy the experience of the Commonwealth Games that surrounds me here in Melbourne. So far I have been successful at both but it keeps me pretty busy.
I have been to see cycling, mtn. biking, weightlifting, swimming and athletics. The level of organization has been amazing and getting to and from the venues has been a breeze.
As far as my take on race day goes here it is:
The morning began at 5:30am. Jill, Gill and I woke up and hit the Main Dining area in order to fuel up for the big event. We met the bus and our driver at 6:30 and arrived at the course around 7am. Most of our gear was already down there so all we had to do was get organized in transition and warm up.
At 8am the call was made that it would be a wetsuit swim. The temperature was 19.4 celcius which meant that it was 0.6 degrees too cold for it to be a non-wetsuit swim. I didn't care either way because I was just going to hit the swim full throttle no matter what.
Jill and I warmed up for a bit on our bikes and then went in for a dip. As soon as I came out of the ocean I got a big suprise. My little brother had arrived from Japan and he and my boyfriend were ready to cheer me on. I got a little teared up and said hi. I didn't stop to talk but went in to get ready for the athlete march in.
At 8:40 they announced each of us by name and country as we walked through the transition area. Once we had been announced we were directed along a 800m walk to the start pontoon. At 8:59 we marched onto the pontoon and lined up; the horn went off.
I put my head down and maintained my focus on the first buoy. Immediately I was away from everyone but not really focused on where everyone else was. My job was to try and stretch out the swim so that there might be a smaller group of women together on the bike. I swam well and felt like my normal self which was a treat since I had been swimming very well leading up to the race.
During the 2nd lap of the swim I started to get warm in the wetsuit and I remember thinking, there's a camera right in my face and I can't feel anyone at my feet. I kept looking to the right to see if the camera was panning back but it wasn't, the thing was right in my face. I kept my stroke rate high and kept good pressure on my hands.
As I approached the beach I could see how huge the crowd was and I knew I was going to be first out. I mentally prepared for a quick and clean transition. As I did my last dolphin dive and began running over the water I heard the crowd roar. It was so loud in the transition shoot. I thought for sure there must have been an Aussie on my shoulder. In fact I was 25secs ahead of the next person. As I mounted my bike with the media motorcycle right with me I heard, "28secs to Jill." I thought to myself, "OK, get ready, feet in, glasses on, a quick drink and look back."
Before I knew it there were a group women in front, with and coming up with me. I saw Jill and we took off.
The bike was a really casual pace for the most part so our strategy, being a defensive one, meant I had to move to the front and push the pace whenever no one else was. I did that and my average power ended up being quite high by the end of the bike. I felt like I did what I could to always make sure Jill and I were never in the position to get dropped and if something happened, like an attack, Jill and I could have got up there and shut it down.
Once I was off the bike I looked forward to my first 10k run in a month and a half. Since I came to this camp the longest run I had done was 45mins of base. I am positive I never made it 10k in those 45mins. It was interesting for me to see how my body and mind would initially react to running at a good pace. I felt fairly fair. I didn't feel fast, slow or in pain. I just thought about keeping the legs moving, arms down low and celebrating the experience I had around me. I didn't run too badly either and I think that's because I am so swim and bike fit right now.
It's promising for the rest of the season and I look forward to keeping the pressure high on my swim and bike and building into a running program that entails more than 2hrs per week.
All in all I had a fantastic experience. Our team strategy was a solid on but on the day there were a couple things that didn't work out in order for the team tactic to really pay off. I am very thankful to have been selected to be part of the team and I think that we all learnt a lot about the training that is required in a team scenerio. I enjoyed the team atmosphere that all the athletes and support staff provided as well as everyone's support.
It will be a good year.
I am about to head out for a short run and then a swim. Following those two workouts I will be heading out to Phillip Island with my boyfriend to visit a couple wineries and the penguins. We plan on staying somewhere up there and then tomorrow will be a day of packing and getting ready for the Closing Ceremonies.
Thanks for reading.
Best,
Suzanne

Commonwealth Games Race Report

2006-03-19T11:42:00.000+11:00

Hello,

Yesterday I had the second best race of my triathlon career (Junior Worlds in 2001 was slightly better). The venue at St. Kilda beach was perfect for a race and the crowd was amazing. There must have been more than 100,000 people watching the race and cheering very loudly. The weather was perfect, sunny and 24 degrees with a gentle wind. I knew I had great form going into this race and that helped me manage my nerves. When you are well prepared, you have very little to be nervous about. My goals for the race were to make the front pack on the bike, help Brent as much as possible (hopefully break away from the field with him), and then run for a top 10 finish.

The start positions on the pontoon were drawn randomly by country. This meant that Brent, Colin, and I started side by side and right in the middle. We thought it was an ideal position as we were flanked by athletes not known to be swimmers. The water temperature was just under 20 degrees which meant we wore wetsuits during the swim. I reacted quickly to the starter's horn and had clear water almost immediately. The inexperienced swimmer beside Colin swerved and ran over Colin and then Brent, setting them back right off the start. I powered towards the first swim buoy 280m away and made it there first. I tried to settle into a rhythm and conserve a little energy. I was pretty surprised to be leading the swim, and even more surprised to finish the swim at the front (just behind Tim Don on the results because he ran by me before we crossed the timing mats).

Running into transition was incredible because of the number of people hanging over the barriers cheering. I had a clean transition and made it onto the bike in 2nd or 3rd place. All the main contenders (16 of us) made it into the lead group. The pace was really high right from the start with Colin and I doing a lot of the pacemaking. There was a long technical section that was always fast and a long straight section that was usually quite slow. We tried a few attacks, and so did a lot of other riders, but the group was vigilant and wouldn't let anyone get off the front. Colin and I led Brent into transition trying to get him there first. That ended my job as a domestique and from there I started to race for myself.

I racked my bike, threw my running shoes on and headed out of transition to start the run in the middle of the group. The pace was incredible right from the start. I could only watch as the 7 lead runners pulled away from the rest of the field. I was running really quickly at this point and I must have lost 10 to 15 seconds in the first kilometer. It was a sight to see. I formed a group of three (in 8th, 9th, and 10th position) with Hendrik Devilliers from South Africa and Stuart Hayes from England. I led our group for 3km with Hamish Carter (the Olympic champion) just 10 or 15 seconds up the road. It was exciting to be running so close to him at this stage of the race. I started to get a stomach cramp at 4km and did all I could just to hang on to Hendrik. I suffered for 2km until the pace let up a bit and I was able to catch my breath and my cramps went away. With 4km to go I was still in the group of three but now we were isolated. The group in front was too far ahead to catch and the group behind was not going to catch us. We started to play a little cat and mouse. Stuart Hayes kept surging trying to drop Hendrik and I, but we managed to hang on to him. Going in to the last kilometer I knew I had a good chance to out-sprint the two guys who were with me because of my 800m training on the track team at the University the last few years. I kicked with about 300m to go to the finish and just managed to stay ahead of Stuart for 8th place.

My run split was 32:00.78. That is over a minute faster than I have ever run in a triathlon before and is even better than my best 10km road race time. It is exciting to still be improving so much on the run (especially considering how little run training I have been doing the past few months). The winner, Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia, ran 30: 26.51. If I can improve my run split by a minute and a half I can start winning the big races. If I can run as fast as I did yesterday consistently I will qualify for the 2008 Olympics. Every good result gets me excited for another good results and is very motivating. I can hardly wait to get back to Edmonton and start running with the UofA cross country and track teams again.

I had a little celebration with Brent and Colin last night and am now looking forward to my next race in Mooloolaba on March 26th. Then I will be homeward bound!

Thanks for reading (sorry it was so long, I got excited),
Paul Tichelaar

Last day

2006-03-17T19:23:00.000+11:00

We have finished our last day of training at St. Kilda and now await the start of the race. I have had such a good time preparing for this race. I need to thank my teammates and the coaches/managers for making this such a great experience. Thanks to TriCan for bankrolling it. The three boys are ready to race head to head against some of the world's greatest (and I'm sure the girls are too).

Brent and Colin have been busy planning the celebrations for after the race. I have one more to go next weekend in Mooloolaba so my celebrations will be shorter and hopefully more restrained. Thanks for all your support over the past few weeks. It has been fun trying to keep you up to date with this blog.

Wish us luck!

Paul

Colin, Paul, and Brent say....

2006-03-17T10:32:00.000+11:00

Last night was the opening ceremonies. Joel, Michael, Gillian, Paul, and I were the ones representing Triathlon. The rest decided to stay back to rest up. We were a bit worried that there would be a lot of standing and waiting but that wasn’t the case.

We were police-escorted in a huge bus convoy. There were people lining the bus route to wave to all us athletes. In no time we made it to the huge Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) but we were ushered into another stadium right beside it to get organized and wait. All countries made there was in and were given instructions on what to do. They had some of the opening ceremonies showing on the screens and Paul and I played a game of cribbage to pass the time. We also memorized the Geelong Football team theme song…it is great!

WE ARE GEELONG
THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL
WE ARE GEELONG
WE’RE ALWAYS ON THE BALL
WE PLAY THE GAME AS IT SHOULD BE PLAYED
OUR BANNERS FLY HIGH
FROM DAWN TO DARK
DOWN AT KARDINIA PARK!

When it was our turn we made our way through a maze to the MCG, when we made it to the stadium we were basically up next and we walked immediately in. It was pretty incredible walking into a stadium that big with so many people there. We all walked by the Queen and then watched the rest of the show on the ground. To finish it off was the amazing fireworks that lit up the sky.

The show has received rave reviews in all the news here. I was really happy that I went and experienced it.

Paul says: There are only 2 days to go until the race. Today we went down to the race course and did some final reconaissance. The course looks really good once it’s all set up and closed to traffic. They even had all the volunteers out for a dry run. The boys are ready to put on a good show. Me and Colin will be going for lots of camera time on the bike. If we do our job well, you won’t get to see Brent at all (neither will the wind). This is the most excited I have ever been for a race. I am really looking forward to it.

Brent says:

Things have been going really well in the last week and we are all excited to race. I decided to pass on the opening ceremonies to conserve my energy and keep my prep on line. They showed the opening ceremonies on big screen they have in the village with lawn chairs so I didn’t miss everything. The cycling team didn’t attend either but did a march around the village loop.

We have just two more tune up workouts tomorrow before race day. Feeling strong tomorrow but not too good is key. Then Saturday will be go time.

Cheers,

Brent

Team Canada Reception

2006-03-15T16:09:00.000+11:00

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday we had our Team Canada Reception. It was at the Melbourne Museum and it was where our flag bearer was announced. The evening began with us all filing into the Imax theater to be suprised by a video which showed us about 25 minutes of well wishes from various Canadian athletes, performers, politicians, musicians and school children. It was a real treat. After the video we heard a few speeches from the President of Commonwealth Games Canada and one man who read us a message from our new Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.
After we finished up in there we were marched down a aisle lined with school children all cheering for us. They had made up a Team Canada cheer and they were all waving our flag. The room was filled with sponsors of our team and their family and friends. It was exciting and nice to feel recognized for our hard work so far.
None of us were suprised when Chantel Petitclerc was announced as our flag bearer. She is great choice and well deserving.
Some of the team is off to the Opening Ceremonies tonight. I would love to go but I didn't sleep well last night and I woke up with a bit of a head cold this morning. I feel OK and I swam and ran well today so it's not a big deal. I am just being cautious. We will be able to watch the Ceremony live on our outdoor theater screen and if we're lucky they will have popcorn and blankets again!
I will be at the Closing Ceremonies with bells on.
I hope all is well with you all. We would like to say hi to all our fellow Canadian triathletes in Tuscon. I hear the training is going well up there. Joel's been keeping us posted and said you all love getting calls from him on Skype, the connection is great. I will encourage him to keep calling you up there.
Well until next time, hopefully sooner rather than later,
Suzanne
P.S. I will try and get the "techies" on the team get some photos up.

Who's the Monkey on the Right?

2006-03-13T14:34:00.000+11:00

I mean who's the ripped stud muffin on the right. It's Colin 'the Hulk' Jenkins.

Some Photos

2006-03-13T14:27:00.000+11:00

Here are some photos from the flag raising ceremony and our workout down at St. Kilda yesterday.
Suzanne

Epic Day

2006-03-12T16:47:00.000+11:00

Well, just to get you all caught up, some of us did go to the Aussie Rules Footy game last night. Colin, Paul, Joel and myself took the shuttle and tram down to the Telstra Dome with about 80 other Canadians. It was the semi-final game of Geelong vs Fremantle. The game was awesome and we did figure out the rules thanks to an Aussie family that was sitting behind us. The 10 year old boy gave us a continuous commentary during all four quarters of 25 minutes. He never shut up and he trashed talked the refs quite a bit for a ten year old. The playing field is huge and I am guessing you could fit 6 NHL hockey rinks on the same amount of space. The guys are super fit and the pace of the game is fast. Even the 7 refs that are on the field at one time have to be super fit. Each team also has there own theme song which is played when they run out on the field and at the end of the game the winning team has their song played. Geelong won the game in the end with a score of 101 to 90.
Today began with the Canadian flag raising ceremony at 8:30a.m. It began with five interpretive dancers showing us their rendition of each of the Commonwealth sports. There was also a song sung by two indigenous women along with a guy on his digerido (spelling?)
At 9:30 we were off to St. Kilda beach to do a swim, bike and run. The swim was just under an hour and then the ride and run was along the course which totalled just over 2 hrs. It was windy on the swim course and the bike. The bike also proved to be quite the test of attrition. It was super hot (mid 30s) and there was a very strong head wind. When I got off the bike it felt like I was in a sauna. I got off and ran hard for 10mins, and then cooled down for 15mins.
We are ready for wind, heat, and simply put, a plain old hard race. I feel good and well prepared. We have trained on the course in so many different conditions now that we are prepared for anything.
We're about to have a team meeting and then it's off to dinner.
Until next time.
Best,
Suzanne

Wired to Win

2006-03-11T14:32:00.000+11:00

It's Saturday afternoon we just arrived back from an Imax film titled 'Wired to Win.' It follows the Tour de France in 2003 and explains the power the brain has to overcome and continually adapt, change and re-wire itself until the day we die. It was a good one but the best part was some of the footage from the Tour itself. The information about the brain was also good but it was quite elementary.
The rest of the day will include relaxation; perhaps a massage and for sure another tasty meal. Colin and I just heard that there are a bunch of Canadians heading to the Telstra Dome tonight for an Aussie Rules Footy Game. The bus leaves at 6:30pm and the game begins at 7:40pm. We'll have to see how we feel a bit later today. It's hot today so everyone feels a bit lazy but maybe we'll feel more up to it in a few hours.
Our experience here continues to be going off without a hitch and we are all looking forward to next weekend. The race will fantastic and I expect the crowds to be unlike any others I have raced in front of. We will continue to maintain our focus and determination to perform on the day. It will be an amazing process to go through and one I feel very well prepared for.
Stay tuned to see if we end up venturing out to the game tonight and for some new pictures.
Thanks for reading.
Best,
Suzanne

Skype and day off preview....

2006-03-10T15:23:00.000+11:00

Right now I am talking to my girlfriend Lisa on Skype over the internet...it is amazing, like talking over the phone but for free! Sweet deal! It makes it easier to stay in touch with family and friends...about 2cents a min to a land line, free to computers. Pretty cool!

Last night we watched another movie outside called The Castle. It is a purely and Aussie movie, sort of like Napoleon Dynamite. If you like that kind of humor you would love this movie. I am going to try to burn a copy to bring home because it was really good.

This morning Paul, Suzanne and I got a ride to St. Kilda to do a ride while the others went to the track to do some 800's. Even though I was feeling sick it was a great ride. It was basically all on a road that follows the ocean so we had a great view the entire two hours. Afterwards we got a ride back and had a second breakfast before going to the pool for the afternoon swim. It was another good session for me. I thought that today would be a write off but it proved to be a good one, im happy.

The games is said to have 15 000 volunteers, amazing. They have all been amazing so far, really kind and hardworking. We were driven around all day by Lauri. He drove us to St. Kilda this morning and waited for 2.5 hours for us to drive us back and then he drive us to the pool in the afternoon and waited another 90min while we were in the pool. None of them are getting paid, just doing it for the experience I guess. It is pretty awesome.

They are doing the dry run of the opening ceremonies tonight. All of the volunteers are invited which is quite cool. But there is a court order against all media from reporting on anything about the opening ceremonies...all top secret! It should be a good show.

Tomorrow is our day off! We are planning on going to the IMAX, hopefully it is airconditioned because it is going to get up to 34-36! HOT HOT HOT. Perfect day for a day off...BUT none of the units here have AC, just some fans...it is going to be a perfect day for Heaven bars though (icecream!)!!!

Time to get some dinner and rest up for a day of rest.

OH...a couple of us were planning on going to see U2 play here at the Telstra Dome. They were planning on having two shows here just before the closing ceremonies but it got cancelled because one of them is sick! Too bad...there was a rumor going around here also that they were going to play the closing ceremonies...I guess that is a no go!

Today...

2006-03-09T18:04:00.000+11:00

Easy 3k swim
30min jog with some tempo
60min spin

That was the workouts for the day. We have gone a different way everytime frm the pool, both there and back, seems like our drivers dont know where they are going, but we get to see the city. Riding is proving to be difficult in the city, we rode around a the Melbourne cemetary like 10 times for our ride, the place is HUGE!

Think I am getting sick...starting to get stuffed and feeling tired. Need lots of rest. I had a 2.5 hour nap today. Need to drink lots of OJ!

Tonight is a warm up track meet that some people are going to. It isnt at the MCG but a track right beside it. There are some big names running it. Im going to bed early.

We got some tickets today for the Mountain Bike races on the 23rd. Other tickets are going to be available later on when they become available.

Saturday we get a day off...we are planning on going to the IMAX to see Wired to Win...about the Tour de France and other stuff.

Well it is time to go get some dinner...maybe a heaven bar for desert.

Update with some pics

2006-03-08T22:08:00.000+11:00

Past couple days have been really busy. Lots to do and check out....with a little bit of training.

These first couple pics are from the Sports Super Centre in the Gold Coast. You can see that everything looks wet but we did end up getting in some Ping Pong where I killed Brent every game.

This is a pic of our living quarters, there is another bed on the other side of the room, small but better compared with others.

Bag with all our team clothes!

Before....

After

I went and got a hair cut at the hairdressers here. I got a "Muzacut", pretty sick!

This is where the main dinning hall is, opened 24 hours a day. There is another casual dining place that is good for lunches.

Outdoor movie, Batman Begins....as you can see it was really scary!!!!

The rest are from the training day at St. Kilda this morning.

St. Kilda Course

2006-03-08T16:17:00.000+11:00

Hello Everyone,
I am going to make this short because I have an appointment at the spa in 5 minutes.
The Village has everything we could ever need.
Last night a lot of us watched 'Batman Begins' at the outdoor theatre. There was a popcorn machine for anyone who got the munchies and an hour into the movie volunteers politely came around to offer us blankets. It was so nice; I had already brought my new snazzy Hudson's Bay blanket with me but these people think of everything and they seem to doing everything with a smile.
We went down to St. Kilda to train today. We did an hour swim on the swim course and then had a packed lunch. We also completed our 90 bike workout on part of the bike course. It looks like the training down there will be just fine. Some of us were worried about the traffic and lights and that stuff but I am confident that we will be able to get in exactly what we need before the race.
Things are great. More soon and we will get some photos up today. Stay tuned.
Best,
Suzanne

CHRISTMAS IN MARCH

2006-03-06T20:44:00.000+11:00

After writing a huge post I thought to see if my spelling was good before posting, well it erased everything I wrote so here is the condensed version.

Moral low.
Get on plane.
Boring.
Arrive in Melbourne.
People there to meet us.
Get luggage.
Get on Shuttle.
Get to village.
Go through security.
Go through accreditation.
Short meetings.
Sign some papers.
Go get lunch at cafe.
Overwelmed by food.
I know im going to get fat here.
Go to living shed.
Greeted by huge bag of clothes.
Rip open and try everything on.
Holy smokes.
Wow.
Wicked.
Awesome.
Try more clothes on.
Exchange some clothes.
Tailor some clothes.
Try to calm down.
Try.
Try.
Try.
I cant.
XBOX 360 Lounge.
Post office.
Computer terminal.
Blog.
Blog erased.
Swear a couple times.
Blog again.

Well that was it basically in a nut shell. This is so exciting, so much to check out. I am the only athlete here that has not been to a major games before so all this is really new to me and I love it. I have to try to calm down soon so I can sleep.

We will post some pics soon when we get access to wireless with our laptops.

Until then....

Race Report - Gold Coast Triathlon

2006-03-05T10:32:00.000+11:00

Hello,

It's not everyday that I get to write the race report before the race
is even scheduled to begin. It's 9:00am here now and the race is
supposed to start at 10:50am. The Gold Coast Triathlon was shaping up
to be the most competitive sprint race (that is half the distance I
usually race - 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run - takes about an hour) in
the world. There were several past World Champions, two Olympic
medalists, 70 elite male athletes in all. Sadly, the triathlon has
been cancelled due to inclement weather. It has been raining and
windy here for several days and today has been the worst day yet. I'm
dissapointed about the decision because I was really ready to race
today. I used to get so nervous for races that I didn't really enjoy
them. Something is different this year; I'm more confident, less
nervous, and have been really excited to race. I am in the best shape
of my life and am frustrated to lose a chance to show it. So far my
list of results for the season include a DNF (Did Not Finish) and a
DNS (Did Not Start). The optimist would say that "things can only go
up from here"; unfortunately, I am not an optimist.

There are 13 days remaining now until the Commonwealth Games
Triathlon. My preparation is still on track (a large number of
Commonwealth Games athletes were scheduled to compete this weekend, so
we have all missed our preparation race and will suffer equally from
it's cancellation) and I am looking forward to the big show. Tomorrow
we travel back to Melbourne and move into the Athlete's Village. We
won't have to cook for ourselves anymore as all our meals will be
eaten in the cafeteria.

Everyone is dissapointed here. We are all upset that we can't control
the weather. I'm upset now because we have to do a hard workout
instead of the race. We will do an 800m time trial, followed by a
bike workout on the spin bikes in the gym, followed (possibly) by a
run workout. We will have all the suffering with none of the fun of a
race...and none of the prize money either.

Thanks for reading,
Paul Tichelaar

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO COLIN

2006-03-02T06:10:00.000+11:00

It's March 2nd here in Australia which means it's Colin's birthday today. We wish him all the best this year and in all the years to come.
Happy Birthday from the Canadian Commonwealth Games Team Colin.
P.S. On behalf of Colin I would like to let you know that he is accepting gifts in the form of triathlon gear or cheques. Due to weight restrictions on his trip home please send them to the National Triathlon Center in Victoria, B.C. cc: Colin Jenkins.

Transition Work

2006-03-01T20:42:00.000+11:00

These are of Brent, Colin and I coming out of the water and trying to get our wetsuits off as quickly as humanly possible.

Here we are deciding which boats we're going to swim around. We were trying to chart out a course that would take us 5mins.

This morning we left on our bikes with the goal of working on transitions and pushing our limits on the swim and bike. We got in a fantastically competitive session of transitions with promises of Magnums to the people who did the best job. Then we did a 50 minute swim session with 5 times 5 mins at mid race pace. Our bike was 30 mins hard out of the water. We all worked hard and can feel good about our performances. Apparently the guys were on fire flying down the road slipping in, around and behind each other in turn. I can't wait to watch them race in Melbourne.

Tomorrow is another big day. A swim in the morning followed by a run and then a bike in the afternoon. We are also having a final bbq here before we leave the following morning.

Well, I am off to bed. I just wanted to keep everyone updated on our day.

P.S. We all got Magnums (ice cream bars covered in chocolate) when we got home. Coach Joel came through for us once again. Thanks Joel.

More soon,

Suzanne

Take My Money and I'll Run

2006-03-01T07:18:00.000+11:00

Well, last night was a night of poker. The guys took my money (only a dollar because I know, "money doesn't grow on trees") and I ran all the way back to my unit. The guys are totally hooked on poker and sometimes I get sucked in. I like to play but find that I don't have the attention span for the game. I usually use the excuse that I am too tired but last night Colin made sure the game started early so I couldn't use that one. I tried to tell him I needed to make dinner but he said, "we'll wait." I think these guys like to take my money or like to make themselves feel like winners. Anyways, I gave them the satisfaction and graced them with my presence for a while and then lost. Booo.
Today we will be doing a hard open water swim followed by 15 mins of full-on on the bike out of the water and then another 15mins of steady state. I think that's it for most of us; maybe a short run for some but it should be a good workout.
I haven't done too many swim-bike workouts before and I'm starting to feel good during the first 5 mins of the bike. It is typical for most triathletes that this part of the race is a real gut buster/mental test so I am glad to be feeling the benefits of the numerous swim-bike workouts we have been doing here in Geelong. My confidence in this part of the race will be high and I look forward to using my power (what Paul refers to as horsepower) on the Gold Coast this weekend.
Yes, that's right, we are moving up to the Gold Coast this Friday for the Luke Harrop Memorial Sprint Triathlon. It will be exactly half of an Olympic distance and the field will be strong. On Monday following the race we will fly down to Melbourne and move into the Village. This is where we will get to see what our accomidations will be like and the day that we will see what sort of gear we will be sporting for the next couple weeks. Hopefully nothing too silly looking, not that we're all not good looking enough to pull off the weirdest of apparel but we don't want any other countries laughing at us. As long as we're not wearing beaver pelts wrapped around our heads during Opening Ceremonies then I'll be happy.
OK, I'm off to make myself a coffee. Thanks for following along with our journey. We're enjoying every moment and maintaining a solid focus on March 18th!
Suzanne

Cycling World Cup

2006-02-28T11:08:00.000+11:00

On Sunday afternoon a group of us headed to downtown Geelong to watch the UCI Women's Cycling World Cup event that was being held. We got there just in time to catch the last hour of action. We watched the groups go by once, then went to the Black Sheep Cafe for a cup of coffee (coffee and cycling go together like a penny and a wishing well) before walking down towards the finish line to watch the finishing sprint. A muscular German woman on the T-Mobile team took the sprint ahead of an Aussie and a Japanese girl.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday were all long training days and I am glad that it is Tuesday afternoon. We had a hard swim in the morning and after my nap today, I will have an easy run. I am starting to think about the race coming up this weekend. It's a sprint race so it should be fun and exciting. My form is still really good so I don't feel like I have anything to be nervous about. Colin and Brent are going really well now to, so the Canadian men should have a good performance this weekend.

My bed is calling me so I will leave you now with a few pictures of the bike race. Oh, and I almost forgot - I got a haircut over the weekend so I put a picture of that up as well (it's big news since I haven't had a haircut since November).

Cheers,
Paul

Wind and Ice

2006-02-25T17:06:00.000+11:00

Don't you just hate going out for rides and it seems like no matter which direction you turn you still end up with a head wind, yea well this was one of thise rides. Paul, Suzanne and I ended up in a small town called Windchelslea...or something like that. There I ate my hamburger that I packed away, not as good as last night and it sat like a rock in my stomach. It seemed like a good idea last night, guess not.

Joel bought some ice for us to have an ice bath when we got home. Just what we needed.

Day done.

Movie, BBQ, and a game of Poker

2006-02-25T11:24:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was our first day off we have had since we arrived in Australia. It was a much deserved rest. Luckly we picked that day to take off because it was the hottest day since we got here! We spent it by going to the nice air conditioned movies and watching Jarhead. Then we went and bought a whole lot of meat at the local butcher...some chicken, hamburgers, and of course Kangaroo. The BBQ was fantastic and filling. After we sat around and played some crib and poker where I won all the marbles!

We have tons of leftovers from the BBQ so for our three hour ride this afternoon we are all packing away a couple burgers for a nice snack during the ride.

We swam in a new pool this morning. It cuts down our commute time by 15min which means longer lay in and it is a much nicer pool. We did some start speed work this morning getting ready for the sprint Auzzie champs next weekend.

Brent, Jill, and Jillian are on their way out the door for a hard track session of 8x800. The rest of us are going out for our long ride later on.

Put some shrimp on the Barbie!

Mixed Messages

2006-02-24T07:29:00.000+11:00

Well, yesterday was one of mixed messages. My body was asking, "when do I get a break," my head was saying, "this is when it really counts, stay tough," and Joel was saying, "find a way to make it happen." What to do, what to do? I/we made it happen and found a way. We had a 45-60 minute run workout in the morning followed by an hour swim at the warmest pool I have ever been in, and the afternoon session was threshold work on the bike for a total of 90 minutes through the Botanical Gardens of Geelong.
We've been on the go for over two weeks now. 40 hours of travel to get here, followed by five days of training, a three day trip to Hobart for a race, and then another 5 days of solid workouts. Today is a day of rest and recovery (I write with a smile on my face.)
We kicked off the rest day last night with a dinner out at a Thai restaurant for Joel's birthday. It was really yummy and the guys were pleased with not only the taste but the portions too. However, before we even stepped away from out seats Colin had another meal on his mind. "We have to have a cake for Joel's birthday, I am sure there's a place to find one near here!" We went and bought cake and ice cream and celebrated (Colin the most).
Today will be a mish mash of things I am sure. Some would like to walk around the downtown for a bit, head to a cafe and relax, sit on the beach, and others will likely sleep in late and nap after lunch time. As for myself I think I will go for a bit of a stroll downtown and perhaps try and find something worthwhile to bring home to help me remember this trip. Something I can actually use and not a fridge magnet or a t-shirt. We also have a pool at our complex so I might sit there and read for a while with my books. Yes, I am working on two right now, China Inc. and A Million Little Pieces. I started both a while ago but bounce between them. Both are good in different ways.
We're all on track and looking forward to the Gold Coast race that we leave for next Friday, March 3rd. From there we move into the Athlete's Village in Melbourne, Monday, March 6th. That should be interesting, especially for us ladies, we are sharing a house with some weightlifters.
That's all for now.
Thanks for reading and we promise more pictures later today.
Suzanne

Finally an update...

2006-02-22T15:51:00.000+11:00

what a lazy bunch of slackers! We owe all of you an apology for taking so long to update the page. Nobody was attacked by kangaroos or anything, we've just been lazy. We were all in Hobart, Tasmania over the weekend for the ITU Hobart Oceana Cup Triathlon. Good performances across the board although Gillian Kornell was the only finisher of the six member Commonwealth Games team. It looks like our preparation is right on track. Our next race is in two weeks on the Gold Coast. The Luke Harrop Memorial sprint triathlon will be our next test.

I think now is a good time to give a wildllife spotting update. The snake picutre from a previous post was our first encounter. A deadly Tiger snake (who was run over by several cars) was courageously picked up by Colin. Our next encounter was in Tasmania on a training ride, where Colin and I spotted what looked like a Tasmanian Devil or possibly a Wombat. It too was lying motionless on the side of the road although neither one of us brought our camera or picked it up. Yesterday on another training ride the whole group was able to see the most famous Aussy creature of all! A kangaroo sleeping on the side of the road covered with flies, looking a little worse for wear. It seems that all the wild animals in Australia have been killed by cars, except of course for the flock of white parrrots I saw last week, they were a lively bunch. I still haven't seen a shark and am happy about that. I keep my eyes peeled every time we have to get in the ocean for a swim. I'm so scared of sharks it's not even funny.

Today we did a transition workout. An open water swim followed by a bike. After the last swim interval we ripped our wetsuits off, jumped on our bikes, and started a hard paceline for 15 minutes. My wattage was up from last week and I was able to hold 400 - 450 Watts on my pulls. That's a little over half a horsepower (373 Watts).

Take care,
Paul

More Pics

2006-02-16T12:58:00.000+11:00

Some Pics

2006-02-16T04:52:00.000+11:00

Here are some pics from yesterday and with my infamous snake pic. You can check out the great ocean road on the web at www.greatoceanroad.org , one of the best roads to drive in the world for the scenery.

Creamsicles, Yum!

2006-02-15T05:52:00.000+11:00

Morining Everyone,
Well, I am up again at 5:15 and still trying to push back my wake up time. This always happens to me when I travel; I adjust to the time change well but one or two hours off, this trip it's a 5am wake up. Good thing I'm a morning person. I chill out on Gillian's laptop and have a coffee or two!
Anyways, yesterday was amazing. We did a swim/bike brick and a run. The swim was at a similar spot to our last ocean swim, near Torquay (Victoria States surfing hot spot) and the bike took us out to the Great Ocean Road again. We did a fairly high intensity swim workout followed by 30mins hard effort on the bike. Once we'd done that we stopped for a quick bit of fuel and hydration and slapped on some more sunscreen. Then we were off! One hour along the Great Ocean Road with Gillian, Paul and Colin. Brent was our support guy with the van to take us back to Geelong when our time was up. He leapfrogged us the entire ride and took some great shots. I am sure that the guys will post some of them when we get back from our swim this morning (I am by far the most "low-tech" person on this trip; the only techy thing I have is my SRM. Joel wins hands down with his laptop, printer, stop watch, camera, video camera, adaptor cables for a family of 6, and a music device). I have to admit that I was enjoying riding along th undulating ocean coast and checking out the beautiful beaches but I was getting tired. As we began up another hill we saw Brent pulled over in the van and as we approached him we were all thinking hum, I wonder why he's pulled over? Just as we went to pass him he stuck out his paw and atop it was 4 creamsicles. YUM! We each grabbed one excitedly and contiued on with huge smiles. It was a really thoughtful and tasty thing to do. Thanks Brent.
We were all pretty tired when we got back from the brick so we had some lunch and then went out along the river for a run. As soon as we got back we realized Joel and Jill had headed out to buy food for a BBQ. They came back with steak, chicken kabobs, lamb and........kangaroo. All the meat was yummy but the kangaroo was my favourite. It was really tender and I think everyone enjoyed having a chance to try it. Apparently it was half the price of the steak.
Today is an easier swim at the Yarra Pool followed by either a 3hr ride or a hard run workout.
Should be another great day.
OK, everyone's up and we're off to swim.
Thanks for the comments back; we all enjoy reading them. If you don't have a blogger account you can sign up for one for free, it's super easy.
More soon,
Suzanne

The Wonder Of Massage

2006-02-13T17:57:00.000+11:00

Well, we all just received our first massage of the trip. After being in transit for 36hrs and doing a base run one day later all of came up rather stiff and sore. We had a good day of training but everyone was looking forward to the much needed massage. The added bonus is that Darren came to our condos so that we could all line up in a row and get them done in a nice quick 6hrs. A lot of work for one guy but everyone raved about their massages and we will all feel great tomorrow. Hopefully that is the case as we all have a swim bike transition workout in the open water. Should be fun!!!

Everyone is settling in now and we are finding out where all the good venues are and the best spots to eat thanks to Darren. We all had a good feed of Sushi tonite thanks to Darren's input. Fuelled and loosened up for tomorrow.

Cheers,

Brent

The Team Is Complete

2006-02-13T17:23:00.000+11:00

Yesterday began with a 5k swim followed by either a run or a bike. We swam at an outdoor pool in Yarra which is near Geelong. Until the World Championships are over for Lifesaving we won't be able to swim in Geelong however we will be doing half our swims in the beatiful ocean so not to worry. The ocean's been great to work on wetsuit swimming and all the technical aspects to swimming in ocean water (chop, swells, currents, sharks etc...)
Other than workouts yesterday we had Jill arrive, so now the team is complete. I am really looking forward to training as a full group now and having another woman to train with will be good too. Training with the guys for the past couple months has been super fun but too much burping and farting can get a bit manly for me.
While Colin, Paul and I were riding today we came across some road kill. It was a snake that Australians refer to as a 'tiger snake.' We rode by it and said, "ew" and then of course on the way back Colin had to pull over and ask Paul for a picture (another typical guy thing to do). I suggested he touch it with his tongue but as you can see by the picture he did pick it up.
Our massage therapist who is now in the middle of massage #4 told Colin that the snake we saw is one of the tope 5 deadliest snakes in the world. He also told him that Colin could have been killed by the snake even tough it was dead. Apparently the left over venom crystalizes, which makes it more concentrated and when Colin picked it up it could have seeped into his skin and killed him. Hmmm, I guess Colin has a protective layer of skin on his fingers because he is still alive!
So, we're all together now and things couldn't be better. The weather is good, not too hot and not too cold and everyone is getting the job done and having a great time.
I look forward to hearing your comments about our blog.
Take care and keep checking back for more.
Best,
Suzanne

Chipped Tooth

2006-02-13T14:29:00.000+11:00

Our training camp's first casualty was reported yesterday on a 2.5 hour base ride. While opening a Powerbar with my teeth I sheared off a chunk of my front tooth. It was one of the original Powerbars with the impenetrable foil wrappers (I am not sponsored by Powerbar and this is far from an endorsement). I swore profusely for a couple of minutes but managed to recover my spirits quite quickly. Colin was scared that I was going to be in a bad mood for a week and frankly, so was I. As some of you may know, I lost two and a half teeth in a rollerblading accident in 2002. That experience has given me some perspective. It also taught me how expensive teeth are to fix and how uncomfortable dental surgery can be. The chipped tooth is part of a 6 tooth bridge that covers the gap from the missing teeth. I am a little worried that it may cost thousands of dollars to fix...hopefully not. I will probably wait until I get back to Canada to get it fixed so I will look a little silly for the rest of the trip. Oh well, I probably look silly anyway.

Cheers,
Paul

Barwon Valley Lodge

2006-02-12T10:10:00.000+11:00

Slept last night like I was drugged...it was nice. This morning woke up to a chilly 8 degrees outside, had a little crakfast and went out the door for a run with the rest of the team. There is a nice trail that runs beside a river that we followed. Stretched and had some more breakfast. The day is heating up nice, we are soon to be on our way for a 2.5 hour ride int he 26 degree sun and then an ocean swim later to finish it off.

Ive taken some pics of where we are here in Geelong, they are at the bottom of this post. I am pretty sure that the Brits and other teams are going to be staying here also soon. Some of the Irish team is going to be right next door.

Oh yea...SPORT IS HUGE HERE. Right now the World Lifesaving Champs is going on 500 meters from here. A Womens World Cup Cycling race is coming here soon. The Melbourbe Grand Prix is going to be here the weekend we leave...thats too bad! Plus we have seen lots of people rowing, playing cricket and tons of cyclists. Pretty cool.

PS - anyone want to phone us and give us words of encouragement or large donations feel free to call us at (011 61 3 5247 3127)

Arrival in Australia

2006-02-11T21:21:00.000+11:00

From 5am on Thursday morning until 1:30pm on Saturday afternoon (37.5 hours plus 19 hour time zone difference) we travelled halfway around the world. Other than Colin leaving his wallet on the plane in Melbourne, the trip was relatively uneventful. Special thanks have to be sent out to Sigrid and Mark Tipton for their amazing hospitality during our 9 hour layover in LA. We had a great time at Playa Vista (www.playavista.com) and even managed to do a workout in the outdoor pool. The sun was out and we were able to see the HOLLYWOOD sign as we flew in. We had a quick tour of the Electronic Arts (a major video game manufacturer) head office and got the employee discount on a couple of games.

We have finally arrived at our hotel in Geelong (one hour south-west of Melbourne). The girls got the good room with the patio after winning it in a card game. We have gone grocery shopping and settled in. It has been weird to me having the sun to the North. It makes it seem like it's the afternoon in the morning, and the morning in the afternoon, and that the sun is moving backwards. The cars are all on the wrong side of the road and everytime I go to sit shotgun, I end up on the driver's side of the car.

We have our first day of training tomorrow. A run, ride, and ocean swim are on the schedule.

Flash Slideshow

Stuck in LAX turns out to be Fun in the SUN!!!

2006-02-10T13:14:00.000+11:00

Today was a wicked turn of events for us in LA. What was suppost to be a hellish 9 hour layover turned out to be a day full of sun and VIDEO GAMES!!! I posted a message on slowtwitch yesterday asking if anyone had any ideas of what to do while stuck in LAX....well someone replied saying that they will pick us up from the airport and take us to where they work. Well it turns out that she works in a city within LA. It was actually an old airfield owned by Howard Hughes (The Aviator) and now it is being turned into a huge city. We swam in a 25 yard outdoor pool, got burned and spend an hour in the headquarters of Electronic Arts (EA). It turned into a great day. We are now in the Air New Zealand lounge eating our faces and getting ready for the 13 hours flight to NZ!

Bye for now

Travel Day: Well Deserved Rest

2006-02-09T11:27:00.000+11:00

Well yesterday was the conclusion of our third fitness test. We're leaving on a jet plane (or two, or three, or four or five) tomorrow and eventually we'll get there but I think we're all looking forward to a day off training.
We've been working hard, embrassing the hard days and are now looking forward to racing in Hobart in 10 days.
From now on we will be updating everyday with interesting information and photos.
Please stay posted.
Thanks for all the support.
Suzanne

Money in the BANK ! ! ! / Argent dans la BANQUE ! ! !

2006-01-27T16:34:00.000+11:00

I see training like putting money in the bank, you keep saving and saving until one day when it counts the most, and you really need that money you can cash it all! Thats what I plan to do on the BIG DAY on March 18th in Melbourne, Australia, CASH OUT everything that I have been working so hard on these last few months. Especally in the past 3 weeks I have been saving HUGE! Yea that means that training has been super hard but as the saying goes around here, "FIND A WAY"! Thats what I keep telling myself when I feel like it is getting to be too much. It usually works and I keep on truckin through it.

These next two weeks are really tough. They are the final workouts that we are doing here before we have our last tests and then fly out for more training and racing, BUT IN THE SUN! Since we had our last test we have not had a break at all. The next day after the testings I had a base run, a 3 hour bike, and a pool buoy swim workout with the NTC. This is a really cool workout where we put four buoys in the pool and we simulate turning around buoys, racing, and josling around for positions. You get a little knocked around like in a race but it is all fun.

On Monday I had a recovery day of a easy swim in the morning and a spin in the afternoon with a sweet massage at night. I have been going to see my massage guy more and more this last little while taking advantage of every possible way to help me recover for the next workout.

It turned out that the massage was needed because we had more testing in the water the next day. We had a lactate test of 7x200 where we would take our heart rate, preceived exersion, and blood after each interval where we would decend all the way to our PB's. Wow I love the burn in my legs on the last one, they felt like lead dragging on the bottom on the last 50 meters!

On Wednesday my main workout was motor pacing around a 10km loop by the Victoria Airport. I did this workout with Paul and Suzanne with Joel driving the scooter pacing us. The wind was fierce for this workout which forced us to really concentrate on our drafting and positioning. BUT I forgot that we did this after a killer swim workout where Suzanne kicked our ass again like she has been for the past month! Holy smokes she is in wicked shape right now!

Today Paul and I had our main trainer set for the week at the "SportHouse". This is a house right beside a huge lake called Elk Lake. Running there is perfect where there is a 10km trail around the lake which is perfect for training runs. Some of the athlete live there with a "shed" attached to the main house where we have two treadmills, an assortment of weights, dryland equipment, and wind trainers for our bikes. Todays set was really tough mentally but it was the first day since the testing that I have actually felt like I had started to recover from it. We both had great workouts and I have attached a picture of my SRM file at the bottom of this blog for people to have a look at. Each and every week I have been able to push more and more watts at these workouts, today was one of the best ones which makes my coach, Joel Filliol and I really excited that the training is paying off.

Ill keep you all updated on how the training is going these next two weeks before we are off.

Now it is time to put my feet up, relax and watch a movie with my girlfriend!

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Je vois la formation comme mettre l'argent à la banque, vous continue à sauver et sauver jusque à un jour où elle compte les la plupart, et vous avez besoin vraiment que l'argent vous peut l'encaisser toute ! Thats ce que je projette faire le GRAND JOUR le 18 mars à Melbourne, Australie, ARGENT COMPTANT HORS de tout que j'avais travaillé tellement dur sur ces derniers mois. Especally en dernières 3 semaines j'ai été économiser ÉNORME ! Yea qui signifie cette formation a été dur superbe mais selon le dicton autour ici, "TROUVENT Une MANIÈRE" ! Thats ce que je continue à dire moi-même quand je me sens comme lui obtient d'être trop. Cela fonctionne habituellement et je garde sur le truckin par lui.

Ces deux semaines suivantes sont vraiment dures. Elles sont les séances d'entraînement finales que nous faisons ici avant que nous ayons nos derniers essais et puis volions dehors pour plus de formation et l'emballage, MAIS AU SOLEIL ! Puisque nous avons eu notre dernier essai nous le démuni a eu une coupure du tout. Le jour suivant après que les testings j'aient eu une course de base, un vélo de 3 heures, et une séance d'entraînement de bain de bouée de piscine avec le NTC. C'est une séance d'entraînement vraiment fraîche où nous mettons quatre bouées dans la piscine et nous simulons la rotation autour des bouées, l'emballage, et josling autour pour des positions. Vous obtenez frappé autour comme dedans une course mais c'est tout l'amusement.

Lundi j'ai eu un jour de rétablissement d'un bain facile le matin et d'une rotation l'après-midi avec un massage doux la nuit. J'étais allé voir mon type de massage de plus en plus ce dernier peu tout en tirant profit de chaque manière possible de m'aider à récupérer pour la prochaine séance d'entraînement.

Il s'est avéré que le massage était nécessaire parce que nous avons eu le essai dans l'eau le jour suivant. Nous avons eu un essai de lactate de 7x200 où nous prendrions notre fréquence cardiaque, preceived l'exersion, et sang après chaque intervalle où nous decend toute la manière à l'amour de Wow I de notre PB's. la brûlure dans des mes jambes sur dernières, ils se sont sentis comme le fil traînant sur le fond sur les 50 derniers mètres !

Mercredi ma séance d'entraînement principale était moteur arpentant autour d'une boucle de 10km par l'aéroport de Victoria. J'ai fait cette séance d'entraînement avec Paul et Suzanne avec Joel conduisant le scooter nous arpentant. Le vent était féroce pour cette séance d'entraînement qui nous a forcés à nous concentrer vraiment sur notre rédaction et positionnement. MAIS j'ai oublié que nous avons fait ceci après une séance d'entraînement de bain de tueur où Suzanne a donné un coup de pied notre âne encore comme elle a été pour le mois passé ! Saint la fume est dans la forme mauvaise en ce moment !

Aujourd'hui Paul et moi avons fait placer notre entraîneur principal pour la semaine chez le "SportHouse". C'est un juste de maison près d'un lac énorme appelé Elk Lake. Courir là est parfait où il y a une traînée de 10km autour du lac qui est parfait pour des courses de formation. Une partie de l'athlète de phase là avec un "hangar" a attaché à la maison principale où nous avons deux tapis roulants, un assortiment des poids, l'équipement de terre ferme, et les entraîneurs de vent pour nos vélos. Aujourd'huis réglés étaient vraiment durs mentalement mais c'était le premier jour puisque l'essai ce je se sont sentis réellement comme j'avais commencé à récupérer à partir de lui. Nous les deux grandes séances d'entraînement eues et moi avons attaché une image de mon dossier de SRM au fond de ce blog pour des personnes pour aller voir. Chaque semaine j'ai pu pousser de plus en plus watts à ces séances d'entraînement, étais aujourd'hui l'un de les meilleures qui fait mon autocar, Joel Filliol et j'ai vraiment excité que la formation paye au loin.

Subsistance malade vous tout mis à jour sur la façon dont la formation va ces prochains pendant deux semaines avant que nous ne sommes pas en ligne.

Maintenant il est temps de mettre mes pieds vers le haut, de détendre et observer un film avec ma petite amie !

Training Update

2006-01-27T09:09:00.000+11:00

Training Update

My training for the Commonwealth Games started in the middle of December, in Edmonton, Alberta. I was forced into recovery mode with a knee injury in the middle of November and although my knee still kept me from running, I was able to start preparing for my role as a domestique. From the middle of December until the middle of January I trained with the Keyano Swim Club in Edmonton and rode outside on my cyclo-cross bike while working part-time at Magna IV Engineering. On January 16th, I headed out to the coast to train with my Commonwealth Games teammates. I owe big thanks to Magna for giving me 2.5 months off for these games and to my girlfriend for letting me be away from home for that long.

There have been lots of hard workouts and a lot of testing since I arrived one and a half weeks ago. I managed to repair my knee by rolling on a tennis ball and have been running since the day I arrived. I am being pushed hard by my teammates every day. My preparation is on track for a good race in Melboune in 7 weeks time and I am very excited for this opportunity. February 9th we head to Australia for a few preparation races and acclimatisation. Thanks for reading.

Hurts So Good

2006-01-23T10:32:00.000+11:00

Ding, ding, ding and that's the end of Round two. This match will be decided on March 18th, 2006 in Melbourne, Australia however yesterday we ended Round 2. We all came out with gloves a swingin' and made great gains over our Round 1 results. I look forward to Round 3 on the 7th of February as well as Round 4 which will be held in Hobart, Tasmania. It looks like we're well on our way to serious fitness and unquestionable team dynamics. Round 5 on the Gold Coast will be our last round before it's lights out for our opponents in Round 6.

So, to explain the above; I watched 'Cinderella Man' yesterday AND we had our second fitness test yesterday (as Colin mentioned). It was a good indication of great things to come.

We all can't wait to get down to Australia and begin training in the sun and heat. Although the past few days have been alright the past few weeks have been very wet; tonnes/centimeters of rain. However, one could say that we'll all feel as though we're dreaming once we get down to Australia and get to train in idealic conditions.

We look forward to keeping you all posted.

Tunes were Clutch!

2006-01-22T17:37:00.000+11:00

A big thanks to Colin for putting together some great tunes for us to listen to while we were punishing ourselves on the trainers this afternoon!

2 Down, 1 To Go

2006-01-22T12:22:00.000+11:00

Today we had our second of three test workouts before we leave for the Commonwealth Games. We are doing these tests to gauge our fitness and hopefully it will show improvement with the more training that we have been doing over the last 5 or so weeks. Our last test was at Christmas time and our next one will be before we leave for Australia on February 7th.

Last time I did the test was at Christmas time where there was no one to watch me, just me, myself, and I. That put little pressure on myself and I did pretty well. This time most of the team was together and there were coaches left right and center watching us along the way. We started the day by doing the swim test at Saanich Commonwealth Pool. Compared to last time, I improved by a couple seconds on all aspects of the test so I was happy. I felt half decent and was happy with the effort that I put in it. After the test we all went to a breakfast place across the road from where I live called De Dutch...Wow they know how to make HUGE pancakes that taste like heaven! I had ham, sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns smothered in pure maple syrup on mine...I don't think that I said one word or raised my head from my plate the entire time. Just head down and suck in all that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside food!

After I stuffed my face I went home to rest for the second test, the bike. I watched some of the special features of the CSC documentary OVERCOMING. This is a great film that I recommend to anyone who follows the Tour de France. Before I knew it I was back at the pool again for the bike test. This test on the other hand did not far as well...my legs would not push much power and I struggled most of the way. I was pushing higher watts for double the workout last week so something was a little off. I do not blame any of it on the best breakfast I have had in ages though! Come on...how can food that good be so bad for you!

Anyways I've come out of this test knowing what I have to work on for the next couple weeks before the last test. Two more solid weeks and then test week. I am excited to be getting my new bike soon...I got a RC4 from Blue Competition Cycles (www.rideblue.com), it should be a much better ride then my current bike!

Now it is time to stuff my face in seafood and charge up for a solid day of training tomorrow. I have posted some pics from the bike test today.

Talk to you all soon,

CJ

Flash Slideshow

Meet the 2006 Canadian Commonwealth Games Triathlon Team

2006-01-20T09:23:00.000+11:00

Over the next couple months you will be able to follow the Canadian Commonwealth Games Triathlon Team members preparation and execution of bringing home Gold medals for Canada! They will post regular blogs of how they are doing and what they are up to for getting ready for the big race on March 18th in Melbourne Australia.

Please Check back regularly for updates and new blogs from all the members and coaches.

The team members are as follows:
Womens Team Jill Savage, Gillian Kornell, Suzanne Weckend
Mens Team Brent McMahon, Colin Jenkins, Paul Tichelaar
Coach and Staff Joel Filliol, Michael Emmett

Flash Slideshow