do we think too short term?

I just read Randy's article on "another coach poached" http://olympics.thestar.com

Isn't that pretty short term thinking, Joel didn't sign a lifetime service contract with GB, he's there for 4 years. He'll apply his knowledge and experience there, do the best job he can and learn, learn, learn. In 4 years what's to say he doesn't come back (with the 3 other coaches they "poached") and he'll be a better and more experienced coach for the time spent there.

Hopefully he'll even have a 4th, 5th and 6th place finishers medal to celebrate.....

Joels a coach, he's a good coach, he would be the first to admit he has lots to learn. He could be coaching into his 60's and hopefully his most successful "grand master of coaching" years will be spent in Canada, coaching Canadians to medals at the Olympic Games. This is one Olympic cycle, where a Canadian coach gets to immerse himself in coaching a "host nations" team.

Besides, if he saves those British pounds he might actually be able to afford a house on the ocean in Victoria, with an endless pool and a Honda s2000 that his old mate Simon can drive when he's away...

Well, I honestly didnt see this coming.

I'm stoked for Joel, great great coach, full of passion and knowledge, a tireless worker whose key, in my opinion, was his ability to be innovative while remaining consistent to his core principles.

Great job coach, I'm disappointed because I really liked this chapter of my book where you were playing such an important role and our squad was so much bloody fun but as the cliche says, all good things must come to an end.

So we move along and turn the page.

I think the next chapter will be called "as if Kyle and I needed any more motivation....."

Now go and disseminate all that false information we made up to the brits and report back on Alister and Will..... because those lads are fast.

S

Joel wrote on his blog;

Thanks Canada

Thanks Canada, its been a great trip.

I'm moving on from Triathlon Canada effective February 9th. It wasn't an easy decision to take as I have enjoyed great support in Canada, but its the right time for me to make a change and take on an exciting new leadership role.

The three years I've been in the role of Senior High Performance Coach at the National Triathlon Centre in Victoria, and the years before that in development roles have been an invaluable experience. I am enormously proud of the continued success of the NTC as a centre for international excellence, and particularly proud of the achievement of our Olympic goal with the silver medal for Canada in Beijing, both as Olympic Team Coach and working with Simon Whitfield as his personal coach since 2005.

It's been an honor and a privilege to have worked with everyone at Triathlon Canada, from Tom Patrick, Alan Trivet, Stephen Holmes, and Larry McMahon, to all of the coaching community, from Barrie, Craig, Patrick, Gary, Phil, and Benoit, and many many more athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff. I have appreciated their support, and trust to make the tough decisions and take a risk to demand excellence in attitude and practice.

Most of all, thanks to all the athletes I was fortunate enough to work with along the way, from our "BAMF" squad in Victoria with Simon, Kyle, Jordan, Lauren, Andrew, Colin, Dano, Paul, Kirsten, and Brent, to the other National and Development athletes representing Canada around the world. I will remember all the fun times, and know you all will keep going with the 'trial of miles, and miles of trials'. Remember, if in doubt, keep it 'organic', and go with "Steadystrongsolidgiveitagoseehowyoufeelstartfastandbuild" :-)

Canada is in great hands with the newly appointed High Performance Director Kurt Innes and is situated in its best position ever coming out of Beijing and into London 2012. I wish the best for the Canadian team and hope to continue to see them all at the races in the future.

So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish

Joel

todays ride in the rain, rain, rain,

3k easy swim this morning,

90min ride in the pouring rain with Andrew Mc and Adam Van Kayaker.

We were going to do 2.5hrs but it was absolutely pouring so we warmed up for 12mins, did 4x12mins rolling pace line at 320-350watts avg and a few minutes rest (navigating the airport) and a 20min warm down climb up Baldwin before arriving home drenched.

rest day

which means breakfast with Pippa and Jennie, living room play time with Pippa, beach time with Pippa. a 35min run with Jennie just to warm up for some stretching of my tight lower back (from playing with Pippa), a bit too much food, dinner with Pippa and some mid day drooling on the sofa ( "a kip").

yesterday I was pretty awesome and came second in the VERY VERY competitive Maui Polar Bear swim... where Andrew kicked the shit out of us.

we followed this up with a running race, well apparently Kyle and Jeff thought it was because our 30min building tempo suddenly turned into a january tempo race for glory. Jeff finished with his head back and swinging side to side, he was unable to talk after wards because he had the "I just smashed a tempo workout and can't stop coughing" thing going. Meanwhile Kyle was doing the "I'm not even breathing hard and can talk normally, would you like me to recite some Dane Cook jokes while you cough up a lung and I casually breath through my nose" act (which I've tried many times in the past).

I was doing the "man I'm old and these young punks are running hard and fast in january, I'll justify getting dropped by telling myself that I'm just taking it easy and being patient because it's only january, I'm going home to sulk, am I over the hill??".

actually it was fun, the cane fields are just a great place to run and Maui is fantastical. Joels gang is running fast and training is great fun (and I'm tired).

back at it tomorrow (swim - bike and run, surprise surprise)

s

1 billion

one of the many many things Victoria BC could spend a billion dollars on instead of building a sewage treatment facility.

read www.rstv.ca

Montreal’s bike hire makes 50 best inventions list

By Richard Peace

Montreal’s bike hire makes 50 best inventions list (Bixi)

Time magazine’s 50 best inventions of 2008 include the Large Hadron Collider, an invisibility cloak, a new way of serving in table tennis and Bixi, (from “bicycle” and “taxi”) which is Montreal’s impending public bike hire system. It actually came in at number 19, just behind the planet wandering New Mars Rover.

So why is it a Time best invention? “The modular bike-rack stations are web-enabled and solar-powered. The bicycles are designed with tons of sealed components to resist the savage beatings they will undoubtedly receive, and they’re equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags so they’re easily trackable.”

From the spring of 2009 - when the snow’s gone - 2,400 bikes will be available at 300 stations in the city. Recently, Bixi Bike Squads have been out and about giving people the chance to check out the bikes and the pay stations – the system allows users (you need to have paid a membership fee) to pick up a bicycle from a self-service station on the street and return it to any one of the other stations in the city. The first half hour is free.

Being solar-powered, like Montreal’s car parking stations, the bike stations are not just environmentally sound. They can more easily be moved around to meet changes in demand.

Unlike many public bike hire systems, Bixi is not funded by an advertising company. Funding has been organised by Stationnement de Montreal, the company which looks after the city’s car parking. Membership fees help pay for the system. Currently they’re set at $78 a year (about £42.00) with the option of monthly or daily membership if you prefer. The bikes are home-grown, having been designed and manufactured in Quebec.

Sadly, the harsh winters mean that Bixi will only operate from mid-April to mid-November.

the coaches at CTS have me doing some crazy new exercises.....

"ok coach, whatever you say"





















BUT - I've been using my www.gameready.com icing machine and trying to learn guitar to relax and recover.

yesterday and today

yesterday, 90min run with 1hr tempo - 22km total, some big hills and head on into the wind.

1hr easy easy recovery ride.

Pippa time in the morning.

today;

5.3k swim as 2 sets of 32x50 on :40 (yards), actually a great set.

3.5hr ride with 2.903 meters of climbing including a brutal 17km climb into the wind to finish.

followed by a 30min easy run.

pics

Adam Van Kayak holding his own, all 190lbs of pure muscle.... he did the whole ride. wow.

massage in the kitchen anyone?

the gang at the banana bread stand where we turned around today.

the top of the climb looking out over the rolling green hills and ocean, we can see mexico city from here.....

Looking for John Hawes

John was my first swim coach in Kingston Ontario with the Blue Marlins, we were fast.... ok the other kids were fast, I wasn't but I tried hard (I got disqualified in my first two events at my first swim meet ever....).

John if you're out there please email my admin gale Jessica Lane at sqwracing@gmail.com I have a couple questions for you.

Simon

two 5k days in a row.

I guess it's all back on.

5300 yards (so I guess I did fall short of 5k... oh well).

1000 s.k.i.d.s. (by 200 - swim, kick, IM, drill, swim)
16x50 every 4th fast
200 easy
24x100 on descending pace times from 1:25 - 1:10
100 easy
800 paddles
some kick

I was actually a little smashed after this, a relative to my fitness level smashed.

rode for 3hrs, started with a 9km climb, descended back to the Hana hwy, another 9km climb, waited for Lauren and Groff Groff, a 10km climb that featured 650meters of climbing. descended back to Paia (a little bit of racing on the decent), dropped the gang off and headed back out for another 6km climb, descended home and ran 30mins off the bike.

fun fun. tomorrow is a building long run, an easy swim and an easy recovery jog.

Pippa time.

s

a great idea

Light Lane - Concept from Altitude’s Alex Tee and Evan Gant

Published January 9, 2009 Altitude , Design Concepts

A close brush with a distracted driver is enough to intimidate the most avid bikers from riding at night. The problem isn’t just about visibility, as safety lights are effective at capturing the attention of a driver. However, these lights are typically constrained to the bike frame, which highlights only a fraction of the bike’s envelope. Bike lanes have proven to be an effective method of protecting cyclists on congested roads. One key is that the lane establishes a well defined boundary beyond the envelope of the bicycle, providing a greater margin of safety between the car and the cyclist. Yet, only a small fraction of streets have dedicated bike lanes, and with an installation cost of $5,000 to $50,000 per mile, we shouldn’t expect to find them everywhere anytime soon. Instead of adapting cycling to established bike lanes, the bike lane should adapt to the cyclists. This is the idea behind the LightLane. Our system projects a crisply defined virtual bike lane onto pavement, using a laser, providing the driver with a familiar boundary to avoid. With a wider margin of safety, bikers will regain their confidence to ride at night, making the bike a more viable commuting alternative.

---

some pics

my first 5000 workout since Olympics today!!!! (5000yards....)

90min ride with sprints, spent the day waiting for my bike to be fixed. wasted a day away, arg.

pics.

training and such

training is going well, back in Maui after 3 days back in Toronto/Edmonton for some speaking appearances. I felt like it went really well, great people, cold weather, tried to be funny, done and done. Back to Maui at midnight, up for a 3hr ride with 2min hill reps at 8:30 and a 1hr easy run at night. Followed today by an open water swim in the ocean where we watched Kyle do his best Laird Hamilton impression and got in almost an hour of nice solid straight swimming (amazing for strength). Followed that up with some serious "body bash" (Aussie for body surfing) at the beach with the family, Pippa loves the beach, good times. Ran 1hr with a 30minute building tempo in the cane fields, Kyle seems said according to his GPS gizmo we ran 9.7km in 31mins on a hilly course...... not sure how accurate the GPS is in the cane fields but 'dem the stats. Finished off the day with a 90min easy spin with Adam VanKayak (dude trains HARD!).

off to bed, back at it tomorrow.

pics of PK and I at the beach.

Coaching (the press release)

Triathlon Champion Simon Whitfield Joins Carmichael Training Systems

Colorado Springs, CO – Simon Whitfield, Olympic Gold and Silver medalist in triathlon, has joined the team of world-class athletes who have chosen to work with Carmichael Training Systems in an effort to reach the pinnacle of their sport. Whitfield will be coached by CTS Pro Coach Nick White, who also coaches 2008 Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander. Coming off a successful season that culminated in a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing, Whitfield is looking to expand his competitive horizons into 70.3 Ironman competitions, including the 2009 70.3 Ironman World Championships, as well as continuing to race on the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup circuit.

Working with Carmichael Training Systems, Whitfield will be under the watchful eyes and guidance of Chris Carmichael, best known for providing the expert direction and knowledge which helped Lance Armstrong win seven Tour de France championships, as well as assisting Peter Reid to an Ironman World Championship in 2000.

"Simon is a proven champion, and Nick and I are excited to help him achieve the new goals he has established for his career," stated Carmichael. "With Lance Armstrong, Craig Alexander, Simon Whitfield, and Carl Edwards all working with Carmichael Training Systems, 2009 is going to be a great year.”

Already known as one of the fastest runners in the Olympic-distance triathlon world, Whitfield will be working with Nick to increase his endurance for longer multi-sport events. He will also be getting used to a new bike, since athletes in draft-legal Olympic-distance triathlons compete on modified road bikes and competitors in 70.3 Ironman events – where drafting is against the rules – ride more specialized aerodynamic machines and riding positions. As they have with Armstrong and Alexander, this will likely mean a trip to a wind tunnel to optimize Simon’s cycling position.

Asked about his motivation to change coaches after a long time working with Canadian National Team coach Joel Filiol, Whitfield commented, “Joel is a great coach and close friend, and I want to give him more of an opportunity to work with the younger up-and-coming triathlon talent in Canada. And at this point in my career, I think a change would do me good and give me a fresh outlook on my training and racing. Nick and Chris were obviously very successful working with Craig Alexander, and I talked to them about their coaching philosophy and I think it’s a great match for me. We’ve already gotten started and I’m excited about the years to come. I want one more shot at Olympic gold in 2012, but I also want to branch out and compete in some of the other great distances and events triathlon has to offer.”

a "medium" couple of days

medium as in I'm unfit and the workouts are taking more out of me then they might otherwise. that along with it being rather hot here means any mis- calculation in hydration seems to just punish you the next day.

after a good 3.5hr ride on friday with an easy recovery swim in the afternoon we moved on saturday morning from Lahaina and our temporary accom to Ryders place (he's off in Australia for tour down under). Moving with an 18month old takes half a day even if it's only a 1hr drive...... we just can't believe how much stuff we have with us. I did manage to get in a solid open water swim at Baldwin beach, a 1mile warm up followed by 10(50 strokes sprint, :20 sec rest, 80 strokes race pace :20 rest). I had hoped it would cool down a bit but when I headed out for my tempo run at 4:30 pm it was still pretty damn humid and I think I paid for it today. I'm not sure how fast I ran but I felt like I was hammering, 15min warm up, 45mins tempo, 30mins (which turned into 22.5mins because I was smashed) wd. I think I over did it because when I finished the 45mins I was finished, I felt like curling up in the sugar cane and having a nice long nap..... amoungst the bugs and flora...... I managed to trundle on home and lay on the floor drinking Coke (how good is Coke on a hot day!!!!) for an hour with Pippa crawling all over a sweaty pops wanting the black bubbly sugary goodness........

I woke up today and gave it my best effort. 2hrs in the saddle climbing everything and anything I could, after an hour of climbing I hit the entrance to the crater climb and thought "lets scout this out"...... that was a mistake, it's pretty exposed on a windy day and it blew mr. 'carrying some extra luggage' self, up. I did manage to get in 1500meters of climbing over 60 odd Km's in about 2hrs.

Not impressive but moving in the right direction.

after a 35min trot in the cane fields I'm off to the airport to pick up the first arrival from Joels squad.

more tomorrow before I fly back to Toronto for 3 days..... fun fun.

S

a brilliant ride

another brilliant ride..... after a quick visit to the park for play and coffee.

I did the "loop" today. 100k around west maui. Coach wanted me out there for 3,5hrs at 210+watts, 130 hr. just rolling along. The first half of the ride is pretty flat and just heads along the ocean from Lahaina south and then east towards Kehei. Once I was in the valley I head north into a bit of a head wind and slightly uphill towards the airport. I swung by the pool to pick up the Blue Seventy speedsuit I left at masters practice last saturday and luckily found it in the lost and found amoung crudy towels and speedo's.....

After that the climbing starts as you head around the top of west Maui. I'm pretty unfit right now so 2hr in I was actually pretty tired especially after a 1:15 hill run with 6x2min up hill hard, 6x:30 up hill "harder", a 2hr hilly ride mid day and a 4.5km masters workout complete with some 100's on 1:10 at the end yesterday.

anyway, the ride today started wearing on me 2.5hrs in as I was hot and tired so when I rolled into the lobby of our hotel it was crash time, a cold coke, some protein and some droooling in front of the TV until Pippa woke up from her mid day nap.

Some pics from today starting with our morning at the park.

punked

well that went exactly as I expected it to BUT I did what I would have hoped others would do for me.

I took one for the team, the best I could.

There have been many times that I've asked an up and coming Jr. or even fellow vet training partner to give it a go and try and help me out through a workout even though they may have been in a bit over their heads. I'm not sure the percentages but lets call it 50% of those athletes just suck it up and do it.

I'm sure the question has been asked "yeah but would Simon do this for someone else"....... (JC :)?)

Well yes in fact I would and I got punked today doing it. Ryder wanted to go for the record on the 39mile crater climb here in Maui. You start in Paia, home to the famous "jaws" wave and head up and up and up for 39miles to the top of Haleakala and it's 10,000 foot peak. The record is apparently 2hrs and 38 mins held by Ryders Garmin team boss Jonathan Vaughters (I think he set it during the 'race to the sun' event).

Anyway, Ryder had hoped I could lead him through the lower slopes where it can be pretty windy so I got up at 5am, loaded up the car and drove from west maui back over to "upcountry". I had a quick cuppa at Anthoneys and we warmed up for 15mins or so as the sun rose. I had no illusions of grandure here, even with his parents driving support and likely thinking to themselves "these triathlageeks can't ride a bike, what is he thinking", really nice people but I'm sure they were thinking something along those lines.

I told Ryder to give me a 5min head start so I could settle in and not risk blowing it from the start. I rode up the road 10mins at 280watts/143 heart rate and 77 cadence (avg's) to make sure that my "engine" was at least in working order. After 10mins I re: calibrated by power meter just to make sure it was set and spun around in circles waiting for the Garmin lone ranger to roll on by.

At this point I had no idea what to expect, a 2hr38min climb; are you hammering 10mins in? or just rolling along waiting for the altitude to kick in............ I soon found out. He was NOT just rolling along, he was moving. I rode in front of him as he had asked me to do...... for about 20secs, yes 20 secs, at 400+ odd watts. I then thought to myself "ok wait, this is about to get ugly fast, lets drop back to his wheel and get in a rythem then see if we can help out".

And for all instensive purposes the answer was a resounding NO.

Looking at the wattage file I did make it to the front for about a min, at 420+watts, this sent my HR from 145 to 165, I went back to his wheel, regrouped and according to the power file I helped for another :40 secs at 440-500 watts, 165hr, 90cadence, took a 1min breather at 350-380watts, 166hr, 90cadence, did another minute at 430-500 watts, 171 HR, 90-93 cadence and promptly feel off..... at which point I think I held 320 plus watts for 20 odd minutes and called it a day (with Ryder no where to be seen up the road).

I think I managed to average 330 watts for 25mins with a huge spike at the beginning and a steady and ugly drop off from there. I just talked to Ryder, he broke the record by 6 MINUTES, 2hrs 32mins. 350watts for 2 1/2 hrs. yikes. The last 1hr must be above 7000 feet so factor that in.

Note to my new coach, I know I'm outta shape, I'll get it back I promise :)

BUT I ran for 45mins off the bike, he did not, so I continue to rule.

now for a sleep before masters swim practice here in beautiful Lahaina.

And Ryder is off to do another rep of the crater...... no not really but he likely could.

SQW

todays ride

wow, what an adventure. Chasing a tour rider around hairpin blind corners (he was coasting, I wasn't). A stunning ride, I don't think the pictures will do justice.

tomorrow it's up at 5am, Ryder wants me to lead him up the first bit of the crater climb..... up and up for 37miles, the record is held by his team boss Garmin Jonathan Vaughters, 2hrs 39min of climbing from 0 - 10,000 feet.

yikes.

I don't think Ryder understands how out of shape I am, one of of "leading" him would be hard in the middle of the season let alone carrying this layer of cushioning I'm sporting from 1-2 beers a night. That doesn't lend its self to leading mr. cycling professional up anything!

Off to bed, coffee and climbing awaits.

today

Included are pics of our first morning here and some lame ass pictures from todays ride... I was tired alright, I'm outta shape (and look like I'm 12...)

instead of writing a blog for today I'm lazy and just cut and pasted my email update to Joel's squad who arrive on the 11th here in Maui.



OK this place is awesome. I drove to your accom today, incredible. great looking place, nice dead end street one house from the ocean, running right out the door in the cane fields, which are INCREDIBLE, seriously some of the nicest running I've done. amazing, I ran 1hr in there today great footing, soft, with loads and loads of endless trails. Wide roads for fast running with a harder surface and side trails for warm up and hills. Or you can just run along the ocean for an easy trot. I rode 3hrs today with Ryder on one of the most amazing roads I've ever been on, wide shoulder, rolling with just spectacular views. very hilly but great fun, he was able to stay on my wheel because I had mercy on his Garmin-Chipolete eating..... tour de france crushing.... ok no, he toyed with me on his easy day, it was sad and I'm pathetic. I swam at the Sakamoto pool by the airport, it's a little cold but I did get in 4000 and was totally fine. bring a thermos and double suits, hell bring your wetsuits just in case. I'm scouting out the masters open water workout tomorrow at "big beach", should be fun, it's about a 50min drive though but a good place to swim (apparently) and I'll run down there apre swimming. Paia is a great little town with everything you need, there is a safeway right by the pool for big shops but we were surprised at the good prices in Paia (compared to the safeway) at this amazing natural food store. Great coffee too.... :) Ryders place is a 5 min run from your place. You're right beside Mama's Fish House, a famous restaurant and surf spot. I drove up the stupidest road I think I have ever been on, I think it might be the toughest climb you could do here, just incredibly steep and relentless, I'll trick you into going up it. "andrew are you up for a challange?". oh and the weather was amazing today. great place. wish I'd come here earlier. S