final globe blog (with a picture taken @ 9000ft on Flagstaff's Snowbowl climb in february that sums up coach Joel and our squads commitment).
Well that chapters over, what a journey.
Four years ago (my new) Coach Joel and I set the goal to get back on the podium at the Olympic Games after what can only be described as a what-doesn't-break-you-only-
makes-you-stronger experience in Athens.
In 2005 Coach Joel assembled a squad that initially spent a year with 6 athletes jammed in one lane at Crystal Pool. We had very little funding, and of the original squad I think only Colin and I are left. The following year we were given another lane at Crystal. Kyle Jones, Dan0 Wells and Jordan Rapp joined us soon after and when Kirsten Sweetland came along our squad was rolling. We've had some other athletes come and go, all on good terms, it just didn't always work out for one reason or another. At the start of 2008 Brent McMahon was training part time with us and found a way to contribute with his great work ethic and experience. Paul Tichelaar was commuting from Edmonton to train with us and Andrew Mac was crushing us in the pool much to his delight. Eventually Olympian Lauren Groves also joined us. It was with a mission statement built around "people will rise to the level of expectations" that Joel's squad was (and will continue to be ) world class.
He'll be taking applications in the fall, with commitment being the one and only criteria.
We started out the Olympic year in Tucson Arizona with a full squad focused on first qualifying, and then competing in the Games. I remember thinking "wow the boys are already going fast" as Tich, Colin and Kyle were so focused on the June World Championships in Vancouver and their final chance to make the Olympic team. Fortunately I had qualified in September '07 and with my sole focus on August 19th I started a bit slow and had to watch a few of the workout battles from the back.
In February we moved to Flagstaff Arizona after a short break back in Canada. At 7000ft the altitude makes training just that much harder, something Joel seems to love. The boys continued to role along, I think the highlight was going head to head with the locals on the Saturday group rides in often freezing temperatures as we tried in vain to win the sprint to the yellow sign at the end of Mormon Lake road. I was commuting back and forth to Sedona which was 45mins away (and 5000ft lower) to see Jennie and Pippa who were living at a vacation rental with her parents. I think in hindsight this acted as a governor on my training that paid off later in the summer. The other guys are all at least 7 years younger then I am and for them hammering in the winter is possible, not to mention fun. Joel and I knew I had to be a little more patient and roll into spring a little underdone.
In April the boys headed off to Australia for some early season races and I headed back to Vic where I shifted my training into 3rd and eventually 4th gear and put in a critical 6 weeks of consistent and focused training with Dano and Jordan. By the end of May I was running 6x1k on the track in under 2:35, my riding had come around and my swimming was right on track. Paul had a very successful southern hemisphere campaign, as did Kyle. Colin and I went off to Japan for my first world cup of the year and with Colin in the front breakaway pack acting as the "momentum keeper" we were able to stay away from the chase back that contained, among others, Tim Don and Peter Robertson. I was eventually able to pull away from Rasmus Henning in the final lap and we started the year with a bang. It also acted as another opportunity to race with Colin and try and dictate how the race unfolded.
The perception has been that I would simply follow Colin's wheel and he would "protect" me and do the work for me. In fact, our first priority was to have a "momentum keeper", for lack of a better term. When the front pack lost momentum, and the chase pack that often contained the best runners and any contenders that hadn't had a good swim (or slacked off their swim training to focus on running) weren't able to rejoin the front pack as any time the pace line fell apart, as it often does, Colin would move back to the front and maintain the speed. In Japan, as he had in Cancun the previous fall, Colin stayed near the front of the group of 10. He filled in the gaps, I did my turns at the same rate as the others and we put away a couple contenders by simply maintaining momentum.
After Japan it was back to work. Kyle and Tich were flying, Dano was making the swim sets miserable by hammering me as my head to head lane partner, Kirsten was getting back into the groove and Colin with Jordan Rapp there to make it as hard as possible had his nose to the grindstone putting in some epic rides and starting to show fantastic fitness.
World Champs finally arrived, I was pleased with my result as it reflected exactly where we wanted my fitness to be and the team was selected. This brought about some controversy although I have to say this was greatly exaggerated by the media. Paul and I were described as "consistently publicly blasting each other", as far as I was concerned it was one comment, one response and we moved on, in fact we had a beer together after the race to celebrate two Canadians in the top 10 at worlds. From what I understand the way Paul was selected was handled very poorly, a mistake that should have simply been chalked up to 'poor communication', followed by an apology and you "turn the page". Unfortunately this negative side story took on a life of its own and seemed to be added as a side bar to every article about our Olympic Team. I'll say hopefully for the final time, I always thought Paul should race for himself, he absolutely earned that. I had a lot less to do with the selection of the team then people think. This was the THIRD time triathlon Canada selected "team racers", it was the first time I was involved. As far as I was concerned we were fielding the best team we had available at the time with the focus on winning medals.
After worlds we raced in Des Moines, Iowa. I was very pleased with my race there, I swam well, rode well and felt good running in the heat. I had made progress on my fitness from Vancouver and the "trends" were headed in the right direction. Three weeks later I felt like I had one of the best races I've ever had at Lifetime Fitness, I was third out of the water, rode completely solo up to the front of the race and eventually ran head to head with my older brother "Benno". We ran :40 secs into the course record, I made some money and I Joel and I were very pleased with my fitness, again the "trends" pointed up. A week later, after a hard week of training in the heat, I felt cooked arriving on the start line in NYC and eventually DNF'd feeling tired and flat. No one likes DNF's, but we were focused on Beijing and running myself into the ground on a hot day in NYC wasn't in the plan.
When we arrived back in Vic post NYC Joel indicated he was very happy with where we were at, the training was focused on fine tuning without being greedy for more as the work was already done. I then ramped up the heat training sessions which were punishing 90min training sessions out in our backyard "office". When I finally ran 8x3mins at 12.5mph in 35degree I knew I was ready for anything.
Our arrival in Beijing couldn't have gone better, when the men's and women's teams arrived the support team was absolutely world class. I really can't say enough about the people that came together to make our pre race environment second to none. Again I'm not sure I want to share all the specifics, it was a truly world class set up that the other countries can figure out for themselves. What made it so special was the energy that everyone brought, so positive and empowering, I could really feel the effect it was having on my final preparations both mentally and physically heading into the race. The Road to Excellence fund, which provided so much of the funding for our final staging deserves so much credit here. I don't think it would have been possible without that support.
Race day I felt so relaxed and happy, the days leading into the race set me up to arrive at the pontoon knowing we had done everything possible to get to the start line prepared and ready to take a crack at it. Jennie sent me the perfect email the night before, it contained words of support that were the final nail in the coffin for any fear I had of failure. I felt like all I had to do was express my fitness, I wasn't hoping for miracles, simply expressing fitness earned through hard work. The race unfolded perfectly and when I tossed my visor off with 800meters to go I was basically stating to myself that I was going to fight to win all the way to the line and after running so patiently for 9.2 kms - it was now or never.
I'm very proud to bring home the silver medal for Canada, I won it fighting for Gold with the single wish to hear O'Canada, again :). The day after the race the following quote appeared in the National Post regarding our medal. I think Triathlon Canada, Coach Joel, our squad and the incredible support staff should all be very proud of their accomplishments and I think this pays tribute to that.
"This was a story of possibility. If we fund our athletes, if we are innovative, if we do not bow to the nattering chorus, if we are talented, and if we are brave enough to commit our whole selves to winning knowing how much more crushing it will be should we fail, then Canada can compete with anybody. Then Canada can win."
- Bruce Arthur, National Post August 19, 2008
and now we focus on London.......
SQW
