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Well, the season has started again and I am excited to start racing and putting my training together to see the results. I have been keeping busy in the last couple months with camps, travel, and everyday training. In march I went down to Clermont Florida for a training camp with a couple members of storm triathlon and the gang from the RTC. I really enjoyed the warmer weather and the environment at the camp and almost can't wait for winter to come again so that I can go away to someplace warm.
April was more training and lots of rain...I was very fortunate to get a brand new Scott Addict bike from Kunstadts here in Ottawa and I have to say that it is by far the nicest machine I have ever ridden. I am spoiled with great components and a featherweight frame. I have only put it to use once in my first world cup in Monterrey, Mexico, but it will get tons of use this year and take me very far.
In May I headed down to Mexico to race my first ever Olympic distance triathlon, first world cup, and first race of the year! I also managed to have my first crash of the year the day before the race...making me a bit of a chicken for the first few of the eight laps of the actual race but I got into a rhythm and was able to go through the corners a lot more aggressively instead of just slowing and sprinting to stay in the pack! I got to meet la belle femme Kathy Tremblay as well as Brent McMahon and Andrew Russel. Kyle Jones was there too but he was totally old news since I met him in Budapest last year. ;) I believe I also had the best room mate that I could have asked for and got to stay with miss Kyla Coates at our wonderful hotel that had a full kitchen. (aka a microwave and a coffee maker) It was a warmer day for the race...I could have enjoyed an even hotter one...and it was sunny which was a big change from the rain and cold back home. the women raced first thing in the morning so it was a perfect temperature for us, but by the time the men were on the run things were starting to heat up!
My shoulder was a bit stiff for the swim, but I did what I could and it is obvious that it is still a huge area that I need to work on. I had a pack of decent riders for the bike and ended up pulling the majority of the last five laps. I was excited to get onto the run course and see where my running was at...Greg and I had only been running for a couple weeks prior to the race with not much speed work. I felt very comfortable throughout and finished feeling like I definitely could have done more in the first couple laps of the run. I am very excited to actually race an Olympic distance instead of just feeling it out and making sure that I would make it to the finish line. I much prefer the longer distance....which is a good thing since it is all that I will be racing next year! All of the Canadian athletes raced well and demonstrated that ability to persevere even in situations that are not ideal or preferable. I have to thank Craig Taylor and Greg Kealey for the amazing coaching support as well. As Dr. Vanessa Young for patching up all of my cuts and scrapes.
I am just on my way home from Guelph where I was visiting the RTC crew and the university. I stayed in Craig's brand new home with his super cool wife and his daughter Kate. The guys and gals here had some awesome runs on the track on Tuesday and it is obvious that they are getting the work done. Time for me to get home where I am racing the Ottawa 10km and then getting back to training.
I will check in again soon.