ScotiaMultisport

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-09-28T09:57:00.000-03:00

Stacy Juckett and Jim Ross competed at ITU Duathlon Worlds this weekend and both enjoyed very sold outings. Stacy was 7th in her AG and Jim was 24th; excellent work to both, enjoy the time in Spain!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-09-28T09:56:00.000-03:00

Big weekend for ScotiaMultisport athletes; Kathy Graves was the first female athena at the Chesapeakeman AV and Rene Miles was the 2nd female at Texas 6 Hour TT. Great work by both athletes!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-08-28T09:53:00.001-03:00

Stacy Juckett had a great weekend; first female and second overall at the Sackville Duathlon and 14th overall and 2nd female at the Coequid Trail Half marathon - wow!

Rene Miles took another first in her age group at a sprint tri in Texas; great work so far this season!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-08-21T09:50:00.000-03:00

Congratulations to Stacy Juckett who ran 40:25 at the Navy 10k; 4th female overall!

Byron Richards also toed the line for the Navy 10k and went 42:05; good for 30th overall!

Congratulations to both athletes on strong performances.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-08-08T09:45:00.000-03:00

Congratulations to Gerald Robinson who went 5:02:12 at the Boulder 70.3; good for 104th overall and he picked up a 70.3 Championshiop slot!

Great effort on a challenging day!

Race Across the Rock

2011-07-31T20:02:00.000-03:00

Jason Ryder finished his run across Newfoundland today - simply an amazing undertaking and so an incredible journey for Jason and his team. Unfortunately Yigit had to end his run after more than 500km as his foot and knee were bothering him and he was unable to continue.

Great work to both athletes for even starting this adventure, I am in awe of you both!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-07-25T19:59:00.000-03:00

Ryan Macdonald claimed his second straight victory at the YMCA Triathlon in Pictou. Keep up the great work!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-07-10T19:57:00.000-03:00

Rene Miles took first in her AG with a strong race at the Draper Duathlon. Great job!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-07-04T19:52:00.000-03:00

Gerald Robinson had a great outing at the Utah State TT going 43:57 for 30km. Another great showing for Gerald!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-06-22T20:07:00.003-03:00

This weekend saw three ScotiaMultisport athletes racing and two claim overall victories; Gerald Robinson won the Shark Attack Triathlon finishing the event in just under an hour to take first overall.

At the Air Force Triathlon in Greenwood, NS, Ryan Macdonald took first overall with a 1:00:54 and Jim Ross took 2nd in his age group and matched his PB time on this course (from a year with a short run) with a 1:21.

Congratulations to all!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-06-08T20:11:00.000-03:00

Gerald Robinson raced his first event since IMCoz last season and was able to put up a very fast time. He finished 10th overall as the 2nd age grouper to cross the line and captured the age group victory.

A great start to the season, looking at more fast races in the (near) future!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-06-02T18:59:00.001-03:00

It was a big weekend for ScotiaMultisport athletes with four athletes on the start line at two different events.

Ryan MacDonald finished second at the Navy Triathlon with a time of 1:03:03. Ryan put together a solid effort and had a good start to the season that will see him race in several halite events through the summer.

Mary Hart-Baker raced the Pineland Farms 50km event and finished her first ultramarathon in 7:22. Yigit Aydede and Jason Ryder both raced the fifty mile event at Pineland Farms and went 11:07 and 9:45 respectively.

Job well done to all!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-05-23T20:13:00.000-03:00

Rene Miles race the inaugural IM Texas yesterday and enjoyed a solid swim and a very solid ride. Despite pacing well on the swim and bike, the heat of the day took their toll on the run and Rene fell short of her goal but pushed through tough conditions to cross the line in 15:07.

A solid return to IM racing and a great jumping off point in the quest to go sub 13!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-05-08T14:45:00.002-03:00

Yigit Aydede and Ryan MacDonald both competed in the Eco-Endurance Challenge in the 8-hour event. Ryan and his partner finished 5th in the competitive division and Yigit and his partners finished 15th in the recreational devision. Congratulations to both on a long day of running, hiking, scrambling and navigating!

Eric Reavis raced his first Olympic distance triathlon on April 16th and crossed the line in 2:29; good for 5th place in his AG! Great work for the first go at the distance and lessons learned for the next time.

Former ScotiaMultisport athlete Stacy Juckett-Chesnut finished the Boston Marathon in 3:07:41 - congratulations on a great race!

Race Across the Rock

2011-03-27T09:37:00.002-03:00

Two ScotiaMultisport athletes are planning to run across Newfoundland this summer. Jason Ryder and Yigit Aydede are planning to run 883km following the Trans Canada Trail. You can read more about their journey at their blog; stop by and offer them some encouragement!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-03-27T09:34:00.004-03:00

Mary Hart-Baker ran the Sarasota Half Marathon and set a new PB taking more than three minutes of her previous half marathon time to finish in 1:55. Congratulations on a great race and best of luck in pursuing your sub-1:50 goal at the race next year! Mary is now in training for her first ultra marathon at the Pineland Farms race; good luck with the build.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-02-21T14:40:00.002-04:00

Ryan MacDonald raced the 3000m at the Dalhousie Tiger Classic and set a new PB at this distance with a 10:16. Congratulations on a strong race and the new PB!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2011-02-07T19:49:00.002-04:00

Rene Miles raced a couple of events in January with solid results to kick off 2011. Rene took second in her age group with a 24:11 5k and followed it up with a new PB at the half marathon distance the following weekend with a 1:53:35.

Great opening to the season and I expect to see more PB's as the season progresses!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-11-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately Gerald Robinson DNFed at Ironman Cozumel today; despite putting up a solid swim and bike, he injured his foot exiting the water and was unable to run so had to DNF after T2.

Gerald exited the water in 1:04:07 despite being stung by a jellyfish early in the swim. He was quickly through T1 (3:30) and had a really strong ride, even though he injured his foot as he came out of the water. Not knowing if he was going to be able to run or not, he stuck to the plan on the bike and hit T2 with a ride of 5:12:24 (21.5mph). Another quick transition (4:30) but his foot would not let him run so he dropped out shortly onto the marathon course.

Gerald will be looking to make up for the disappointment of today next year at Ironman Arizona; hopefully he has more luck next year than he had on the course today!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-11-07T18:23:00.002-04:00

Kathy Graves raced Ironman Florida yesterday and crossed the line in 15:26:22. Kathy had a PB on the swim by about seven minutes and followed that up with a PB on the bike by over an hour. Despite some challenges on the run, Kathy was able to run strong and finish with a new IM PB by just under an hour.

Congratulations on a great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-09-27T18:18:00.001-03:00

Ray Mullen completed his second Iron Distance race at the Redman Triathlon, crossing the line in 14:45:18 which was almost a thirty minute PB. Ray was honoured to wear number 179 in honour of Jon Blais.

Kathy Graves raced the Chesapeakeman Aquavelo and finished in 8:28; a solid test heading toward Ironman Florida in November!

Congratulations to both!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-08-30T19:29:00.002-03:00

Kathy Graves raced the Olympic distance event at the Cranberry Trifest on Sunday and was 495th and 11th in her AG with a 3:14:34. Kathy had an exceptionally strong bike leg, posting the 286th best time with a 1:22:19.

Stacy Juckett raced Ironman Canada and started the day with a strong swim of 1:19. However, after two hours on the bike she started to experience some GI distress and ended up riding 6:37. Once out on the run she posted a solid result despite continued GI distress and ran a 3:54 stopping the clock in 12:06:56. She was 33rd in her AG and 979 overall (with the 353rd best run/9th AG).

Congratulations to both athletes!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-08-25T11:24:00.004-03:00

This weekend Kathy Graves raced the Wild Fish Two Mile Swim and finished in a time of 1:29:59 which was good for 70th spot. Kathy raced this event as preparation for Ironman Florida and posted a solid result; a great stepping stone headed towards IMF.

Shelley Movold raced the Olympic Distance at the Kelowna Apple Triathlon on Sunday and finished in 2:38:17 on a very challenging day. This was good for 65th overall and 10th in her age group. In addition, Shelley qualified for ITU Age Group World Championship in Beijing next year!

Ryan MacDonald raced in his first ITU Elite event, also at the Kelowna Apple Triathlon. Ryan toed the line with the likes of Simon Whitfield and Kyle Jones and raced well for his first draft legal event. Ryan finished 49th (out of 64 starters) and 20th out of 29 in the Under-23 category with a time of 2:11:17.

Congratulations to all athletes on a successful weekend of racing!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-08-18T18:47:00.003-03:00

This weekend saw two ScotiaMultisport athletes toe the start line.

Ray Mullen raced in his first event of 2010 at the Rattlesnake Triathlon and finished in 3:12:24 which was good for 320th spot overall.

Stacy Juckett raced at the Parlee Beach Triathlon and crossed the line in 30th overall position and as the sixth female in 2:29:05.

Congratulations to both and best of luck as they head toward their A races for the season.

Congratulations!

2010-08-11T18:54:00.001-03:00

Last season, Ryan MacDonald captured the Triathlon Nova Scotia Provincial Championship for the Olympic distance in Bridgetown with a time of 2:04:32. As a result, he qualified for his Elite Card which would allow him to race in the elite wave of Canadian Races.

Recently he applied for his International Competition Card through Triathlon Canada and it has been approved which will allow him to race in some ITU Elite events.

Ryan will be racing his first elite event at the Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon in Kelowna, BC. In addition to this being the Triathlon Canada National Championship Event, this race is also an ITU Pan American Cup.

Best of luck to Ryan as he heads to Kelowna for the race on the 22nd of August!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-08-10T20:03:00.000-03:00

Rene Miles raced this weekend at the Bridgeland Triathlon (500m/14miles/3.5miles) and finished in 1:26:24, good for 3rd in her age group and less than a minute back of the age group winner.

Stacy Juckett raced at the Yarmouth Triathlon (1500m/40km/10km) and was the 4th place female with a time of 2:33:39. A great tuneup race heading toward Ironman Canada at the end of the month.

Congratulations to both athletes on a job well done!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-08-03T19:23:00.002-03:00

It was a busy weekend for ScotiaMultisport athletes with four athletes racing.

Kathy Graves took second in her age group at Paul Bunyan Long Course with a time of 2:42:55.

Rene Miles raced the Mosquito Chase 5k with a time of 24:48; Rene took the top masters female and 45th overall in this race.

Stacy Juckett was 5th overall at the MacPass Miles event with a time of 5:47.

Ryan MacDonald raced the Nova Scotia Provincial Championships at Bridgetown and finished third overall with a time of 2:05:45.

Congratulations to all on great showings in all your races!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-07-27T19:33:00.003-03:00

Ryan MacDonald has race two local Olympic distance events in the past two weekends.

He raced to a solid second place finish at the Port Hood Triathlon; a front pack swim and bike put him in position to cross the line in 2:08:28.

At the Pictou County YMCA Triathlon, he posted the fastest split in all three events to finish in 2:04:32, more than 13 minutes in front of his nearest competitor.

Congratulations on two solid races and best of luck at Provincials in Bridgetown this weekend!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-07-14T20:35:00.002-03:00

Shelley Movold raced the Smithers Triathlon on Sunday and crossed the line in 2:42. Shelley again had a very strong swim, exiting the water 4th overall. Now Shelley will be focused on getting ready for Kelowna at the end of August.

Rene Miles raced US National Long Course Duathon on Saturday and finished in 4:23:07. Rene finished 7th in her age group for her first attempt at long course duathlon and looks forward to competing this distance in the future.

Congratulations to both on strong races!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-07-04T19:16:00.002-03:00

Rene Miles raced the Firecracker 4 Miler on Saturday and finished 3rd in her age group with a time of 31:56. Another solid outing enroute to Long Course Du Nats this coming weekend.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-06-28T19:06:00.002-03:00

Jason Ryder raced at the Western States 100 Mile Ultramarathon on Saturday and Sunday and completed the 100.2 mile course in 29:36:54 in 306th position. Jason raced strong and moved through the field throughout the day to enjoy a strong finish at his first WS100. Congratulations on finishing WS100!

Jason Myers raced the Slacker Half Marathon on Sunday and crossed the line in 1:43:00 which placed him 157th. Congratulations on a strong first half marathon of the season!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-06-24T18:29:00.002-03:00

Stacy Juckett raced the Johnny Miles Half Marathon in a time of 1:29:30; good for 16th overall, 2nd overall female and 1st in her age group!

Rene Miles raced the Patriot Half Iron in a time of 6:36:19 finishing in 288th spot.

Congratulations to both athletes!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-06-14T18:40:00.000-03:00

Stacy Juckett raced the NYRR New York Mini 10k on Saturday and achieved her goal of a sub 40 10km with a time of 39:46. This was good for the 52nd overall female time and 6th in her age group.

Jason Myers raced the MiniHaHa Triathlon and finished in 2nd place with a time of 49:03.

Congratulations to both on strong races; great work!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-06-06T19:46:00.002-03:00

Stacy Juckett raced twice this weekend; the first was the Enfield Penguin Run (5k) and the second was the Cyclesmith Duathlon.

At the Enfield Penguin Run, Stacy finished 18th overall with a time of 19:19 which was a new PB. At the duathlon, Stacy finished 17th overall and won the women's race with a time of 1:51:32. After two second place finishes at this race, finishing fifty seconds up on second was a great result.

Congratulations on another great weekend of racing!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-06-02T16:17:00.000-03:00

Stacy Juckett ran the last leg of the Cabot Trail Relay on Sunday, covering 18.7km in 1:18:56; good for the 14th fastest time.

Ryan MacDonald raced the Navy Triathlon in Shearwater and crossed the line in 1:01:36 good for second overall. Ryan, along with Matt and Brad Piggott ran away with the race, with less than a minute between all three and six minutes ahead of the next finisher.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-05-27T20:53:00.002-03:00

Rene Miles raced the Kona Sprint (600m/16miles/4miles) on Sunday and captured first in her age group with 1:40:45 which was also good for 68th overall.

Stacy Juckett raced the Bluenose Half Marathon on Sunday and captured 14th overall and 2nd overall female with a time of 1:28:26 which was also good for a new PB.

Congratulations to both athletes on a fantastic weekend of racing!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-05-15T19:45:00.002-03:00

Kathy Graves raced the NE Season Opener Duathlon on Sunday (2/10/3.1) and raced to 2nd AG with a 1:32:10.

Shelley Movold competed in a masters swim 1500m and went 21:58.

Congratulations to both!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-05-04T20:23:00.002-03:00

Rene Miles raced the CB&I Triathlon on Saturday and completed the race in 1:26; good for 4th place and only 5 seconds out of 3rd.

Shelley Movold raced the Vancouver Marathon on Sunday and crossed the line in 3:51:50. This was 254th female overall and 52nd in her age group.

Congratulations to both on great races!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-04-29T20:34:00.002-03:00

Rene Miles competed at the Lonestar Olympic Triathlon on Saturday; the event was changed to a duathlon due to water conditions and Rene was able to complete the race in 2:09:46 (40km/10km) which was good for second in her age group.

Stacy Juckett raced the Greenwood ZX 10km on Sunday and finished with a time of 41:00; good for 5th overall female and 37th overall in the race.

Kathy Graves opened the season at the Lonestar 70.3; despite a challenging swim, Kathy was able to put together a strong race finishing in 6:47:38. Kathy got stronger as the race progressed, moving up through the bike and run legs and posting bike and run PB's.

Congratulations to all athletes on strong performances!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-04-11T18:33:00.002-03:00

Ryan MacDonald raced in the Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run (5k) on Saturday and was able to break the 17 minute barrier posting a 16:59; this was good for 11th overall and 4th in his age group in a very strong field.

Congratulations on a strong race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-03-18T16:54:00.002-03:00

Mary Hart-Baker raced a half-marathon on Sunday in 1:58:47; congratulations on another great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-03-07T19:52:00.002-04:00

Stacey Juckett ran in the Basic to Basics 8-Miler and went 54:39, good for 3rd place overall.

Congratulations on a great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-03-01T15:57:00.000-04:00

Kathy Graves raced a half marathon on Sunday and finished with a time of 2:26:53; a great start to the season.

Congratulations on a great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2010-01-17T18:09:00.002-04:00

ScotiaMultisport saw three athletes compete in a total of five events at the Disney Marathon Weekend last weekend. Two athletes ran the half marathon as part of the Goofy Challenge on Saturday and all three ran the marathon on Sunday.

Jason Ryder and Stacy Juckett raced the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge both finishing well within the time allowed for the event. Jason ran a 2:11:56 half and followed it up with a PB on the marathon of 4:23:56. Stacy ran a 1:3308 in the half and a 3:52:59 for the full. Mary Hart-Baker set a new PB at the marathon distance with a 4:41:28.

Congratulations to all!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-11-17T17:37:00.002-04:00

Rachel Spatz raced the Silver Strand Half Marathon and Sunday and ran her way to a new PB crossing the line in 1:52:55; good for 2nd AG!

Great job!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-11-08T18:00:00.001-04:00

Rachel Spatz raced in a 5k today and set a PB by 30 seconds, finishing in 25:00! Great work so far this run season and a great indicator of PB's to come!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-10-07T20:20:00.001-03:00

Rachel Spatz race a 5k on Saturday and posted a 26:17 on a very hilly course; good for 2nd in her age group! Congratulations on a great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-09-27T21:44:00.002-03:00

Nathan Hangen raced the August 70.3 today and crossed the line in 5:39:38. This was Nathan's A race for the season and is a solid improvement over his first HIM distance event at the Rev3. Great work today and this season and we look forward to seeing continued improvement in 2010!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-09-21T21:27:00.000-03:00

Shelley Movold raced a half marathon on Saturday and finished as the 3rd overall female with a time of 1:46:39; a great finish to an excellent season!

Nathan Hangen raced his final tuneup event before the Augusta 70.3 at the Wilmington Triathlon (1.5/20/5). He finished as the 264th male in a time of 1:29:25 as a great final test before Augusta next weekend.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-09-14T21:25:00.000-03:00

Ryan MacDonald raced the Shubie Dooby Triathlon and took 3rd overall with a time of 2:14:33. Ryan had a very solid outing, putting up top 10 splits in all three events including the 2nd overall bike split.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-08-31T20:02:00.003-03:00

Jason Ryder and Shelley Movold both raced Ironman Canada on Sunday, battling the heat, wind and smoke, in addition to Richter Pass and Yellow Lake. Jason crossed the line in 12:31:55 while Shelley finished in 12:50:39.

Shelley started the day with a very strong swim (3rd AG and 211th OA) and exited the water in 1:00:57. The goal on the bike was to keep things in control and setup the run and Shelley was able to hit both these goals with a 6:39:35 ride and followed it up with a 4:59:36 marathon to finish 58th in her AG. A very solid effort and well paced race for a first Ironman.

Jason also started the day with a great swim of 1:04:55 but ran into some difficulties on the bike and run. Despite not being able to maintain the speed expected during the ride; after realizing he wasn't going to be able to hit his goal bike split, he revisited his goals and adjusted his pacing in order to not cook himself for the run. Despite the difficulties, Jason was able to improve on his previous IM by fifteen minutes over IMAz last year.

Congratulations Ironmen!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-08-18T14:15:00.003-03:00

Nathan Hangen raced the Lake Mayo Triathlon on Saturday and finished in 44th spot overall and 9th in his an age group with an overall time of 1:27:35.

Ryan MacDonald raced the Provincial Individual Time Trial on Sunday and captured third place overall and second in the Provincial Championship.

Congratulations to both athletes!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-08-10T22:57:00.001-03:00

Nathan Hangen raced the Bandits Challenge (1500m/45km/10km) this past Saturday and crossed the line in 3:04:45, good for 120th overall male. Great work Nathan, good luck this weekend!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-08-05T07:47:00.003-03:00

Ryan MacDonald raced in the Nova Scotia Provincial Triathlon Championship this past Sunday and was able to capture first place overall. Ryan was trailing out of the swim (4th out of the water) but rode his way into first place with the best bike split by more than a minute and held on with the fifth best run on the day to hold off last year's Provincial Champion by 26 seconds.

Congratulations on an outstanding race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-07-27T21:39:00.002-03:00

Nathan Hangen raced the Amica Triathlon (750m/16km/5km) on Saturday and finished in 1:13:36, good for 87th out of 270 males and 15th out of 35 in his age group. Great work and solid progress so far this season.

Ryan MacDonald raced in his third Olympic distance race at the Pictou County Triathlon on Sunday and finished in 2:12:38 for 3rd overall and 1st in his age group. Congratulations on another strong race and good luck with the Provincial Championships in Bridgetown this weekend!

Triathlete PSA - Learn How To Ride Your Bikes

2009-07-20T16:24:00.002-03:00

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a triathlon that involved 8x5km laps of a closed course and each lap had six ninety degree turns (four of which were back to back as you finished each lap) and one hairpin. There were about 150 athletes who participated in the race and it started to rain shortly after the first wave started the ride.

During the ride I personally witnessed three crashes and know of at least five more crashes that occurred during this race. There are some key pointers that I would like to highlight when it comes to handling yourself on the bike course that can help to reduce these issues.

* Riding in the rain - there is a possibility that it will rain on race day so you should have some wet weather riding experience prior to race day

* Avoid painted lines - when they are wet these may as well be a sheet of ice

* The first few minutes of rain are the worst - like you learned with driver training, the first few minutes of rain bring oil, fuel, etc to the surface and it makes the road very slippery

* Braking effectiveness is reduced - when your rims are wet, you have significantly less stopping power

* Slow before turns - you want to adjust your speed accordingly before the turn as hitting the brakes in the midst of a turn in the rain is a good way to hit the ground

In addition to these wet weather tips, there are a few crashes that were a result of poor conduct on the course by athletes such as:

* Ride as far right as possible - it is your responsibility to ride as far right as is safe to do so unless you are passing

* Hold your line - sudden changes in direction of travel should be minimized

* Avoid passing in technical areas - if you are overtaking someone heading into a technical area, either pass before this area or wait until after

* Pass left - at no point should you be passing on the right hand side; regardless of how justified you feel in passing on the right, it is forbidden to do so

* Inside pedal is up on all turns - your inside pedal should be in the 12 o'clock position if you are not pedaling through the turn and your weight should be on the outside pedal

Ultimately, remember that it is your responsibility to ride safely, predictably and within the rules. If this means that you have to adjust your speed, tactics, etc so that you keep yourself and other racers safe, then you need to keep that in mind.

Ride safe!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-07-19T20:24:00.002-03:00

Ryan MacDonald competed in his second Olympic distance triathlon today at the Port Hood Triathlon. He had a strong swim, exiting the water in 21:51 in 7th place. Once on the bike he out split the field with the closest rider more than two minutes back posting a bike split (including T1) of just over an hour. On the run he was able to stay clear of the field and put up the sixth fastest run split. Overall Ryan was able to stop the clock in 2:03:19 and claim victory by nine seconds!

Congratulations on a strong race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-07-15T10:17:00.002-03:00

Kathie Sanderson raced the Rhode Island 70.3 on Sunday and finished with a time of 5:43:06! Kathie enjoyed a very successful race and finished 713th overall.

Ryan MacDonald raced the 32nd Annual Run for the Lobsters 10k and was able to win his age group and capture sixth overall with a time of 38:12.

Shelley Movold raced in the Desert Half Ironman and was the 35th overall female and 6th in her age group. With a solid finish of 6:01:43 she was able to qualify for Long Course Worlds in 2010.

Nathan Hangen raced in the Triangle Triathlon and finished with an overall time of 1:38:17, good for 211th overall.

Congratulations to all athletes on their strong races; job well done!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-07-08T11:43:00.002-03:00

Shelley Movold raced in the Barkman Triathlon (1500m/40km/10km) on Saturday and crossed the line in 2:51:16. Shelley had a great swim exiting the water in the top three and then started strong on the bike. Unfortunately, a wrong turn on the bike course added about 5 extra km's to her race and added some significant time to her ride. Despite this, she got off the bike and ran strong through the trails to put down a solid time.

Great work throughout the race; best of luck with your HIM this weekend!

Simon Does It Again

2009-07-01T09:04:00.005-03:00

As with many Canadians who are involved with the sport of triathlon, one of the images that immediately springs to mind when thinking about the sport is Simon Whitfield winning gold in Sydney. After a (typical) Summer Games with many near misses, it was almost a forgone conclusion when Simon took the lead that he would be caught and have to settle for silver.

Eight years later, Simon again was gunning for gold after a disappointing finish in Athens. After dropping off the lead group several times and managing to bridge back up, Simon was again sprinting for the finish with 400m. Despite his strong finishing sprint, on this day it was not enough and Jan Frodeno managed to out sprint Whitfield to the line. Despite not capturing gold, Simon again managed to capture the imagination of triathletes across the country and many were left wondering what would come next.

Last Saturday at the Hy-Vee Triathlon, Simon was able to turn the tables on Frodeno as they were both in a group of six heading into the last lap of the run. As the group ran a very tactical last lap, everyone waiting for one of the other athletes to crank up the pace, as they neared the finish it was Simon who eventually took control. He again turned on his finishing speed and was able to capture triathlon's biggest purse, winning $200,000 for his efforts. Once again, Simon is on top of his game and it should be lots of fun to watch him over the rest of the season!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-06-29T19:16:00.002-03:00

Ryan MacDonald raced in his first Olympic distance triathlon yesterday at the Heart of the Highlands Triathlon in Ingonish. Ryan was 6th out of the water and with the 3rd fastest ride he got off the bike in 2nd place. Unfortunately he suffered some cramping on the run and ended up walking much of the second lap. He was able to finish in 2:41:32 in 21st place; a solid effort on the swim and bike and some lessons learned regarding pacing moving forward with this season.

Nathan Hangen, a new athlete with ScotiaMultisport, raced in the Kure Beach Double Sprint (375m swim/1.5mile run/20km bike/1.5mile run/375m swim) with a finishing time of 1:24:31, good for 165th spot.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-06-22T16:35:00.002-03:00

Ryan MacDonald took part in the 14 Wing Greenwood Air Force Triathlon on Sunday and finished third overall with a time of 1:03:17.

Great work on another strong race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-06-15T16:39:00.003-03:00

Jason Myers claimed first place overall at the MiniHaHa Triathlon in Broomfield yesterday. He posted a final time of 47:46 which was good for a 38 second margin of victory!

Congratulations on a great race; a great start to your triathlon season!

Armed Forces Triathlon Championship

2009-06-12T22:04:00.002-03:00

At the end of May I had the opportunity to travel with the Canadian Forces CISM Core Triathlon Team to Point Mugu, California for the Armed Forces Triathlon Championship. I was with the team as an athlete but as this was my second year attending the race, I was hoping that my experience would be of value to the first timers.

As a coach I was very excited for the chance to observe so very experienced coaches as we had our head coach, Dave Harju and our assistant coach, Michel Ouellet travelling with the team. In addition our team manager, Jason Lawton, is a Canada Games coach and our liaison, Dan Mainguy is a very experienced coach as well. Finally, two of the other athletes are very active in the coaching world so it would be a great time to engage some colleagues in some professional discussion.

We landed at LAX around noon on Tuesday and spent most of the afternoon getting logistical issues addressed so it was around five we arrived at Point Mugu. After supper most athletes put their bikes together and headed down to the course for a ride and swim. I took several of the first year athletes on an easy lap of the bike course; we rode in a group but easy, talking about turns, expected wind conditions and where the attacks might come. After the loop, Harry and I headed down to the beach for an easy swim (Ty was already there and joined us for some more time in the water). The water was cold (probably around 14C) and it wasn't long before your hands and feet went numb. We spent about ten minutes in the water, nothing hard just getting used to the water and some sight lines.

Wednesday we were up early for a ride around the course; unlike last year we broke into three groups; fast, medium and slow. I went with the medium group; I know I could hang with the fast group but wanted to save my hard efforts for race day. After some easy riding we started to run through a solid paceline; we had six athletes and were rotating through with 30" pulls and picking up the effort a little each time. The last pull was a very controlled 38km/h before an easy spin back to quarters. This workout was very well organized with Michel leading our group. Throughout it was very clear what was expected and he ensured that nobody was looking to be a hero in the days leading up to the race. We had a couple of hours off before a fairly easy swim at the outdoor pool. A fairly basic race week swim with some race paced efforts but mainly easy and technical. After lunch, we headed down to the beach for some race efforts on the race course (which had changed from last year) and after an easy warmup, we started some hard efforts. It was hard to hold pace as everyone was trying to stay together in a group (which included a 16' 5k runner) so after the first harder effort, Michel and Dave tried to reign in the group a little. I pulled back my effort and ran around expected race effort (4'/km). Finally, into the wetsuits for a quick dip; the water felt warmer and it took less time to get used to the temperature. Again, nothing serious, just getting into the water to get ready for the temperature on race day.

Thursday was an easy or off day; headed to Malibu in the morning to walk on the beach and then opening ceremonies. Easy day and an early night :)

Friday morning was a quick swim with practicing some beach starts, rounding buoys and exiting the water. As usual this was a pretty fun workout, however Harry kicked Aaron's ankle during one of the starts and broke his toe; definitely not a great turn of events. I wasn't feeling very good in the water; swimming with people I would have expected to swim with last year but with the improvements I made, not quite where I wanted to be this year. After that we were out on the bike in the groups we hoped to ride in on race day. We had a group of six and rode the course easy except hard through the corners. This was to get used to being attacked out of the turns and get back up to speed with the group as quickly as possible. Again, I was talking to the new athletes, trying to give them an idea of what to expect on race day and get them thinking like they were racing their bike, not TTing. I was feeling really good on the bike, covering a couple of breaks and getting good power to the pedals for some short efforts. Finally, as easy run through one lap of the run course before heading to lunch and an easy afternoon.

Race day went okay; I had an awful swim and got dropped by the group I was riding with (found a few others through the race though) but a pretty solid run. Still not the result I was looking for but I was eight minutes faster this year (with the course running slower) so I am happy with the overall result. Hopefully I will be invited back next year and can actually race the entire event.

I also feel that I was able to add to the team through some mentoring on the inexperienced athletes; many of whom at never raced a draft legal tri (or even a crit) before so it was a whole new world. We talked a lot about tactics on race day as well as training and think that my value added to the program is less as an athlete and more as another coach. We are currently looking at about thirty athletes on the core team and I think we could use a second assistant coach to work with some of the athletes.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-06-07T20:23:00.004-03:00

Ryan MacDonald raced in his first triathlon today and was able to finish first overall in a time of 1:07:04; a seven second margin of victory!

Great work Ryan, a great start to your triathlon racing career!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-06-01T17:24:00.003-03:00

This past weekend, Shelley Movold ran the half marathon leg of the Skeena River Relay and in the midst of a solid training week, put up a personal best over the half marathon distance of 1:43:14!

Ryan MacDonald raced in the Cyclesmith Duathlon on Sunday and was able to race to a strong 4th place finish in a total time of 1:44:40.

Congratulations to both athletes on strong finishes in their races!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-05-25T20:22:00.002-03:00

This weekend two ScotiaMultisport athletes took part in epic running events; one a 50 mile ultramarathon and one a leg of the Cabot Trail Relay.

Ryan MacDonald ran leg 7 of the Cabot Trail Relay and was able to cover the 13.1km in 56:12; good for 7th overall for the leg.

Jason Ryder took part in the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge and was able to run 50 miles in 9:48:54!

Congratulations to both athletes; their results in these events bode well for a strong multisport season!

Article on Local Junior Athlete

2009-05-12T21:01:00.002-03:00

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1121492.html

Emily is an outstanding young athlete and I hope she enjoys a great deal of success this season!

Good luck in Oklahoma City!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-05-12T18:11:00.003-03:00

Ryan MacDonald has been named to the Canada Games Core Team for cycling and was busy last weekend turning his focus back towards cycling.

He took part in the Tour of the Orchards Stage Race and had a very strong showing. Despite some difficulties in the last km of the first stage (hill climb), he was able to come back that afternoon in the second stage (TT) with a second place finish. On Sunday he spent most of the day in the breakaway of the 80km road race and finished 5th.

Congratulations on a great weekend of racing!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-05-10T21:08:00.002-03:00

Shelley Movold raced twice this weekend; first a 1500m at a masters swim meet on Friday followed by the Glory Days 10k road race on Saturday. In the 10km she was a little off her goal but still crossed the line in 48:26. In the 1500m, Shelley was able to surpass her goal of breaking 23 minutes and finish in 22:06.

Mary Hart-Baker was in Mississauga for the half marathon and was able to enjoy a very successful race, crossing the line 2:00:50.

Congratulations to both Shelley and Mary for very successful races this weekend!

Swim Golf

2009-05-08T20:43:00.002-03:00

It seems that recently I've been talking to more athletes who think that swim golf provides the answer to whether or not they are an efficient swimmer. They have read posts by various coaches and "know" that if their golf score is under 80 they are an efficient swimmer.

For fun, I have been playing around with swim golf during some of my warmups, cooldowns or drill sets. Here are some of the ways I have gotten to the magic score of 80.

15 strokes/65 seconds
27 strokes/53 seconds
34 strokes/46 seconds
42 strokes/38 seconds
45 strokes/35 seconds

While some of these are taking the idea to an extreme, it highlights the problem with simply pursuing a good score. Although very obvious, it is worth remembering that there are no prizes for fewest strokes taken during a triathlon swim.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-04-26T18:30:00.002-03:00

Jason Ryder raced the E2C: Eco-Endurance Challenge on Saturday. He and his team were able to cover 42km during the eight hour race. Congratulations on a strong effort and another stepping stone in your journey to your ultramarathon!

Scott Holt raced the Mount Rainer Duathlon on Sunday (5.1miles/28.8miles/3.87miles) in a time of 2:59:37. He finished in 58th position overall and 10th in his age group. Congratulations on a strong race with a very strong finish in the second run!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-04-05T20:42:00.002-03:00

Jason Myers took part in the Colorado State Masters Swimming Championship on Friday, swimming 1000 yards in 14:07.11! Although Jason believes his counter may have been off by a lap, he still would have been on pace for a PB (and under 15:00)! Congratulations on a very impressive result!

Shelley Movold raced the Prince Rupert Half Marathon today, crossing the line in 1:47:38; good for second overall female! Congratulations on a great race!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-03-29T19:38:00.003-03:00

Scott Holt raced the Wentachee Duathlon (3 miles/17 miles/3 miles) on Saturday in a total time of 1:51:43, good for 15th place! Congratulations on a great start to the season!

CF Tri Camp - Lessons Learned 2

2009-03-19T10:21:00.002-03:00

Finally getting around to finishing this off; one of the great things for me in going to a camp is to work with a variety of elite level coaches and see what I can steal for my own coaching practice.

Muscle Activation - the night before and morning of competition.

Running Form Keys - some different things to think about while running; one was the lean and we worked on this to get a feel for how far forward we should lean while running different speeds. Also, the idea of pushing your foot towards the ground as opposed to extending out the back was interesting and feels more powerful and smoother. As far as the arms, pushing the elbows back instead of driving the arms forward are all things that I will be discussing with my athletes.

Leger-Boucher Test on the track - I've done the "beep" test as a shuttle run before but we did this on the track; what a difference! I like the idea of standard fitness tests (especially for my track athletes) and this one is a great variation of what many people have done before.

Threshold Swimming - while at the OTC, a great deal of our swimming was at threshold efforts; this led to some very hard sets but also almost everyone was swimming faster at the end of the week.

Video Analysis - both running and in the pool but most importantly while swimming. It wasn't until I could see exactly what was happening under water that I could identify where athletes were truly losing power. Although in some cases what appeared to be happening from the surface was actually the issue, this wasn't always true.

I think that's it for now, I am sure there are many other things I've grabbed but overall, a phenomenal experience.

Shane

CF Tri Camp - Lessons Learned 1

2009-03-15T11:20:00.003-03:00

Well, with all the information posted from the camp I figured I would look at the lessons learned from a week of high altitude training. First, from the POV of the athlete that I was:

Swim

I am a half decent triathlon swimmer but when compared to real swimmers I still have a long way to go (1500m PB - low 23 in the pool and mid 23 OW). Having the chance to have video analysis of my stroke (above and below water) was invaluable and I could clearly see some of the points where I was inefficient. Basically the coaches told me that it looks good but I lack power; worry less about swimming pretty and more about swimming fast. This has seen me focusing on a bit shorter stroke in front but getting a vertical forearm much more quickly and my average pace has dropped as a result.

Also, Bobby McGee told me something that I have always suspected; that swimming breast stroke is a terrible idea. Now I suspected this because I am terrible at the stroke but his point was that the whip kick requires flexibility in the knee that is detrimental to a runner. So, very limited breast stroke for me :)

Run

Bobby McGee had two points that I have been really focusing on since getting back; the forward lean and where to think about pushing. The lean is something I have always tried to do but after working with Bobby for the day, it turns out I haven't been leaning much. We did a few drills with a partner (more about this in another post) to focus on the lean and get the feeling for running while leaning.

As for where to push, I have always thought about lengthening the stride out the back and trying to push from the time my foot contacts the ground. Bobby pointed out that this is too late to think about pushing and you should be thinking of pushing your foot towards the ground as it stops moving forward. His thought on this (hopefully I'm not misrepresenting his thoughts too badly) was that if you focus on pushing after your foot hits the ground, your body won't respond quickly enough to have the benefit you are looking for. By pushing earlier, you actually have a solid push through your contact time; so far it feels more powerful and is something to think about when trying to run fast.

CF Tri Camp - Day 6

2009-03-14T08:33:00.000-03:00

The last day; we've (or at least I've) gotten to the point where everything hurts a little and even taking the stairs up to the third floor can be a struggle.

Today started with a long run; we headed down to the river (canal?) for an 8:00am start. Since everyone was feeling run down, Dave gave lots of options for the run and we were broken up into groups based on projected run time. Harry and I planned to do 1:20 and headed out with a few others just getting moving. It was pretty flat so we just cruised along, talking and enjoying the day. I wanted to get a little quality in so after the we turned back, I upped the pace to around 4:30/km with plans to hold it there for thirty minutes. I invited Harry to go with me but he just didn't have the legs to go (after running faster than me all week) today. The first 20' felt really good but I needed to really focus over the last 10' to maintain pace. It was a great day to think about all the things that Bobby had talked to us about back on Tuesday when it came to running fast. After the 30', I turned back and ran easy back to Harry and then we finished the last 10' together and then waited for the drive home.

The last workout of the camp was a one hour pool workout; absolutely nothing special except it was in the 25 yard pool so things felt fast while watching the pace clock.

After lunch, Jason and Ray came down to Colorado Springs and we did a tour of the OTC before heading out to grab a couple of beers. It was great to meet a couple of athletes that I never figured I would have the chance to meet and hope they enjoyed the meeting as much as I did.

After that, we had a dinner out and then it was time to pack for the trip home.

CF Tri Camp - Day 5

2009-03-13T19:47:00.001-03:00

We had a small social last night but before we headed out Dave had said that he was thinking of doing an 800mTT as part of the day's workout. I decided that I really wanted to focus on nailing this as I was not happy with my run on Monday. I decided that my goal was to hold 1:30/100m over the 800m.

We did a longish warmup and I was feeling okay but not great. Then we lined up to start the TT and I was fourth in line (behind Ty, Martin and Eric). Dive start and away we went - I was focusing on what Sharon had told me about my form and my goal was to keep Eric inside the flags. By the 300m mark I was catching Eric and I caught him at 450; from there I worked to keep moving away from him - it didn't really work but I was able to maintain my distance in front and focus through to the last 100m. By that point I was exhausted but kept pushing through the last lap; hit the wall at 12:10 - best 800m ever at altitude and LC!

With the TT done, Dave had us do 7x100m on 1:45 (holding 1:25) - this was a killer finish after the effort of the TT.

That afternoon it was off to run the incline; when we arrived we found the plan wasn't to run but simply get up. Except for a few crazy fit locals; everyone was walking and we hit the summit in just under 35'. Not bad for 2000' in 1.4km.

After the summit it was a nice easy jog back down (on a trail not the incline) for about 5km. All in all, a great day!

CF Tri Camp - Day 4

2009-03-12T18:30:00.003-03:00

Slept terribly and was not at all ready for the morning run; combine that with not having time for breakfast and knew this was going to be a very easy effort. This was at Red Rocks; the sun was coming up and the frost was melting off; I started comfortably and was near the front but didn't have the gas to go with the lead group and the next group was slower than I wanted to run. In the end, I just hung out in the middle and ran easy up and over the switchbacks; taking in some of the great views available of Colorado Springs. Turned around at 25' but ran into Jay and Ty and figured we would keep going straight (trail looped around) and did almost 40' of easy running when all was said and done.

After lunch was an open water clinic with Sharon Donnelly; this was amazing. We had the whole OTC pool; pulled out the lane lines and put in some buoys. We spent two hours focusing on drafting, sighting, rounding buoys, starts (shallow, deep, pontoon) and generally just had a blast. Probably took four or five elbows and kicks to the face; lots of good preparation for the swim start!

CF Tri Camp - Day 3

2009-03-11T18:17:00.003-03:00

Day 3 started with getting up early; grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading to the pool for 7:30. Started easy with 800m of easy swimming and drills; just getting moving and getting a feel for the water. Still struggling to get enough air and mostly breathing to the right rather than bilaterally. After the 800 it was 4x100 descending getting ready for the threshold swimming to come.

The goal for the main set was to hold the same pace over the 200's and 400; Dave had set the send offs as 3:25 and 6:55 (goal 3:05's for 200's and 6:10's for 400's) and do 3x(2x200, 400). The first two sets were okay but I was really struggling through the last one; the final 400 was killer and I struggled to the wall around 6:45. Then it was 6x50 pull with paddles, just trying to feel a solid catch and pull and an easy 200 cooldown.

We hit breakfast, did a quick spin session, had a small lunch and then headed for the Garden of the Gods for a hill session.

We did a nice 22' warmup of easy running on the road and trails and then did about 15' of drills before heading to the base of the climb. We had the running team with us as well so there were about 45 athletes at the bottom getting ready to charge up the hill :) The plan was to do 5x30" climbs with easy downhill recoveries and then 3x60" climbs also with easy downhill recovery. This workout was brutal; I think I paced it well but by the last 60", I was struggling to stay on pace and maintain focus on the workout. When we finished, Dave said that anyone who wanted could do one more but I was finished; I watched them run up and started to cooldown.

Back to the OTC for supper and bed!

CF Tri Camp - Day 2

2009-03-10T18:32:00.002-03:00

This turned out to be a day of getting lost; not once or twice but three times :)

We started the day with the option between a swim and a run at Garden of the Gods; since I can see a black line anywhere (and I had no American money) I opted for the run. However, we took a wrong turn on the drive out and ended up just running some trails with some hills thrown in. In the end we did around 40' of easy running just to get the legs moving.

After breakfast we had a full day with Bobby McGee. I was looking forward to this session and had very high expectations and I was not disappointed. He is incredibly knowledgeable and a great speaker; further, he offered an extra hour just to talk to coaches about how to incorporate what he had been talking about with our athletes. In addition, we spent an hour after lunch working on various running drills and muscle activation with Bobby and his assistant.

Finally, the evening had a scheduled 5k fun run; for those who were interested, we were offered the opportunity to run down to warmup, do the 5k and then do an easy run back. There were a handful of us who decided to run there are back and the warmup took an easy 19 minutes. After that, I headed out on the fun run with a goal of being around 22' or so; unfortunately, I ended up with no locals in front of me to lead the way and got lost at one of the turns. I mapped it out later and ended up covering about 5.5k in 24 minutes; pretty much right on schedule. We soon departed for the OTC; however the coach that was leading the run missed a turn and we ended up running back in about 40'. By the end I was struggling to stay on pace up the hills and kept dropping off the back. Overall, the 5k fun run lasted for about 1:20 and almost 17km.

Another great day at the OTC, despite getting lost some solid training and an incredible session with Bobby McGee.

CF Tri Camp - Day 1

2009-03-09T18:46:00.002-03:00

Since some of the athletes were not getting in until late on Sunday, we were not scheduled to do any workouts until 9 at the OTC pool. When we first walked in I was floored; I've never seen a 50x50 pool before and it looked huge. Not to mention some of the resident swimmer churning out lengths at speeds well above what I could hold for an all out sprint.

The main purpose of the swim was to get video of all the athletes but Dave had us doing lots of race pace work. After an easy 900 warm-up, it was into the main set; 5x(200 easy, 3x100 at race pace). The first three felt pretty good but as soon as I dialed up the intensity, I could feel the altitude and was gasping for breath. The last two killed and my race pace 100's dropped from 1:34's to 1:39's. Finally it was my turn to be filmed and I "hammered" out 2x100 with everything I had left. After the first Dave asked me if I was going fast (after 4100m, the 1:30 was all I had left).

That afternoon we were scheduled to head out to Peterson AFB for the run test; the plan was the Leger-Boucher test on the track which starts slow at 6km/h and increases by 1km/h every two minutes. I was hoping to make it to level 17 but by 16.25 I was done; I think I could have pushed faster but I just didn't have the guts to keep pushing. Instead, I watched some of the faster athletes push through, with the final athlete finally dropping out at 21.5!

After supper it was a one hour stretching session with a physiotherapist before heading to bed to get ready for day two.

CF Tri Camp

2009-03-08T14:46:00.003-03:00

I've been putting off doing this (mainly trying to get caught up with everything after being gone for a week) but I am finally going to commit to getting my thoughts and reactions down on paper regarding the camp.

This year I was invited to take part in a week long triathlon camp at the Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs. The focus of the camp was swimming and running and we were looking at about twenty hours of training for the week.

I arrived around five on Sunday and after travelling all day, decided to go out for an easy run just to see how my lungs were going to respond to altitude. I did an easy forty minutes on the streets around the OTC and things felt pretty solid although I could notice a difference coming up a few hills.

With the easy workout down, I grabbed some supper, got unpacked and watched the replay of the Tour of California (lots of rain!). With that, early to bed in preparation for Day 1 on Monday!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-03-04T17:21:00.002-04:00

Ryan MacDonald participated in the second Canada Games Camp; Ryan previously achieved the swim (7:29 500m) and bike (14:30 10kmTT) standards and needed to run at least an 11:01 3000m in order to qualify for the core team.

Despite running a PB by almost 30 seconds, Ryan was unable to meet the standard. Unfortunately this ends Ryan's journey to qualify for the Canada Games Team but we are revisiting his goals for the season and he hopes to enjoy a successful first season of triathlon racing.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-02-12T19:42:00.002-04:00

On Saturday Ryan MacDonald took part in the 1500m at the Dal Indoor meet. He was able to match his previous 1500m time of 5:02 despite suffering through some congestion. Great work!

M Paced Training

2009-02-02T20:41:00.004-04:00

Once athletes have progressed through their first couple of years of run training they will often notice that their running will plateau. In order to get through this plateau the typical solution would be to add more run volume which will often yield the results the athlete is looking for. However, for many athletes, when you consider the bike and swim training they are also doing, they may not have the time (or desire) to run more. For these athletes, they need another method to adjust the training load equation (volume x intensity).

Provided the athlete already has a long run (no more than 35% of their weekly run volume) and a tempo run, the next thing the athlete will normally look at is hitting the track for some "speedwork." However, if there are more than a couple months before key races, then increasing the pace on an "endurance" run to Daniel's M Pace is likely to be just as effective and have less recovery cost than a track workout (mainly because triathletes typically run too many intervals too fast).

Although in theory this pace would be the athlete's marathon pace, if the athlete has not done much (or any) of this training before it is likely to be harder than they anticipate. Start with one M Paced run with a couple of miles at this pace and progress until most of the typical "endurance" run is done at this pace. From here, other "endurance" runs can start to include some M Paced work up to about sixty minutes a week at this pace.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-01-19T18:11:00.002-04:00

Ryan MacDonald participated in the second indoor track meet at Dalhousie University last night. In preparation for the next qualification camp he is attempting to gain experience with running 3000m. Ryan was able to set a new PB with a time of 11:39 and is looking forward to his next attempt at the distance.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2009-01-12T20:16:00.001-04:00

Jason Ryder ran with his wife during her first marathon and they crossed the line in 5:06 - congratulations to both athlete on a great day at Disney!

"Experts"

2009-01-02T20:11:00.002-04:00

Just a frustrated note; been poking through various forums and blogs over the Christmas Break and have found lots of advice from "experts" that, I am sure, is offered with the best intentions but we all know what they say about good intentions...

Best of luck with your training in the New Year!

Certified

2008-12-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

Since December last year, I have been working towards my Triathlon Canada Introduction to Competition Certification. For years the National Coaching Certification Program operated under a five level model which was typically based upon seminars and logging coaching hours. However, for the last several years, there has been a move towards developing coaches through education, assessment and ongoing professional development.

The Competition level is designed for coaches who are working with development and elite athletes and consists of three levels; introduction, development and high performance. In order to be certified as a Intro to Comp level coach, the following elements must be completed:

Part 1 - Positioning (weekend seminar) focus is on ethics, safety, planning, philosophy, holistic coaching
Making Ethical Decisions (online assessment)
Case Study 1 - develop coaching portfolio, plan individual sport practices
Part 2 - Planning (weekend seminar) focus is on season planning, physiology, technical aspects
Case Study 2 - season plan
Part 3 - Practicing (camp) coaches are assessed by facilitators and peer coaches

This past weekend, myself and two other coaches who started the process a year ago, finished our certification at the Nova Scotia Canada Games camp. As with all elements of this program, this weekend offered an opportunity to learn more about myself as a coach and reflect upon how I can continue to improve. Throughout the weekend, each coach received feedback from the other two coaches pursuing certification as well as the three facilitators.

Having previously earned a certification in another sport, I found the new approach to be significantly more valuable in my journey to enhance my coaching practice. The seminars are presented using a variety of instructional techniques and also offer coaches the chance to hone their practice in front of others; something that as coaches we too rarely take advantage of when we work with athletes.

Sing Like Kreek!

2008-12-23T16:17:00.003-04:00

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2008-12-22T15:35:00.002-04:00

Ryan MacDonald participated in the Nova Scotia Canada Games Camp this past weekend. Male athletes are required to complete the following in order to qualify for the Core Team and a chance to compete for the final four spots:

Swim 500m - sub 7:30
Bike 10km TT - sub 18:30
Run 3km - sub 10:30

Ryan was successful on both the swim and bike and is now looking towards making the run standard at the next camp in February.

Great work so far Ryan and best of luck going forward!

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2008-12-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

The first meet of the indoor track season was held last Sunday evening; the first meet is always a good time to shake out the kinks and get a good dose of speed.

Ryan MacDonald is hoping to qualify for the Canada Games Core Team which will require a 3km indoor run so he participated in the 1500m (no 3000m at this event) and was able to run his first ever 1500m in 5:02. Congratulations and good luck with the CG camp this weekend.

Winter Bike Training

2008-11-30T16:18:00.004-04:00

I hear stories from too many athletes who spend monster sessions on their trainer through the winter. The most common story is of spending four-six hours on the trainer, mindlessly spinning the pedals at a conversational effort level. While this is a great way to catch up on movies or the latest TV series, unless you have that kind of time to commit to the trainer everyday, it is probably a poor use of time in terms of getting faster.

Since we (hopefully) know that training load is a combination of duration and intensity, a better approach for most athletes would be to ride at a higher intensity for less time. While the easiest way to implement this program is using power, it can be just as effective to use a HRM, rear-wheel mounted cycle computer or even RPE.

The two key areas that most athletes should focus on through the winter will be their five minute effort and sixty minute (FTP) effort as these relate to VO2Max and lactate threshold. With two or three focused sessions each week, an athlete can improve both these values throughout the winter, setting themselves up for improved bike splits next season.

Once the winter has passed and the weather improves, the focus will switch toward completing more longer rides but intensity will still play a key role. So skip the epic trainer sessions, get ready to hurt and set yourself up to set new PB's next year.

ScotiaMultisport Athlete Update

2008-11-24T08:26:00.001-04:00

Ray Mullen crossed the line at Ironman Arizona yesterday in 15:18:19. Congratulations on your dedication to training and putting it all together on race day!

Congratulations on a great season!

"Reverse" Periodization

2008-11-23T11:14:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year again; time for athletes to start discussing the "reverse" periodization models and how they are a unique approach to endurance training. It always brings out lots of passionate opinions as many do not understand the concept of periodization and think that if you train hard early in the training program you are going to peak too early or get injured.

First, there is no such thing as reverse periodization; periodization goes from general training to specific training. Therefore, if an athlete is training for long or ultradistance triathlon, training five minute or sixty minute power is general training while the specific training (ability to ride fast for 56 or 112 miles) is going to come later as the race approaches.

Further, while this always seems to cause much concern when applied to cycling, it is a model that is applied for triathletes in the pool all the time. Many triathletes swim with masters programs through the winter and spend time swimming shorter workouts and then as the season nears, switch to longer sets to get race ready.

Finally, as this type of approach is most often applied to cycling and many athletes live in regions where spending hours on the trainer is the only way to get big bike volume through the winter, why would you not look to increase intensity while decreasing duration? This will allow the athlete to build their fitness while maintaining their sanity and being ready to focus on riding long once the weather improves.

While this approach will work with the swim and bike, due to the injury risk that comes with running, the tried and true approach of piling on the volume is still the best way to tackle running. Enjoy the winter, get out when you can and limit the indoor workouts to a manageable length.

Ironman Arizona

2008-11-22T20:44:00.001-04:00

Ray Mullen is tackling Ironman Arizona tomorrow morning. All the best and have a great race Ray!

Building a Program

2008-11-11T12:45:00.000-04:00

Paulo Sousa wrote a post back in the summer about the meaning of words dealing with the difference between having clients and coaching athletes. For some reason, this post has stuck with me and I often find myself reflecting on what it means as a coach.

The typical online coaching model seems to be fairly well established at this point; in general you take an athlete who has a year or two in the sport (probably no coaching experience) and take a one weekend certification course. Once they have a certification it is time to create a website, set rates (of note, they must be set high enough so the prospective athletes feel as though they are getting their money's worth) and then wait for the applications to roll in. In many cases, the athlete receives a generic training program with minor tweaks and limited communication. As this type of coach will most likely have a large number of athletes it is therefore possible to build their brand and attract even more clients. Further, since a large number of athletes will be relatively new to endurance sport, improvements are pretty much guaranteed so athletes will speak highly of the coach, attracting even more clients.

I believe that instead what will be better for the growth of our sport is for coaches to first focus on developing themselves as coaches before trying to market themselves. A weekend course does not make a coach, nor does simply being active in a sport. Early in their career, even before getting a web presence, a coach should be getting involved in the grassroots level of the sport. They should volunteer to coach some workouts with the local triathlon club; getting some time coaching each of the sports and focus on the sport that they are the least comfortable with. If possible, have another coach spend some time observing them so they can receive feedback on where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Additionally, the coach should spend some time observing other coaches and may also decide to help out (or put on) a clinic or training camp for local athletes.

Once the coach has spent some time developing themselves as a coach, then it may be time to hang out the Internet "shingle." Before doing this, the coach needs to ask themselves what level of support they plan to provide and set a realistic cap on the number of athletes they will work with. For the first couple of years, I would expect that a coach is working with a very limited number of athletes and their fee is only to cover costs (web hosting, training log/planning software, insurance, etc). This will allow the coach to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to each athlete and provide the coach time to reflect on their coaching; what has worked well and what they need to improve.

Ultimately, I see a coach as a professional and feel that a significant effort must be made on the part of the coach to act as such. Rather than trying to build a brand, a coach needs to focus on developing athletes and building a program; this will be significantly less inviting to novice coaches as it is much more time consuming and challenging than the typical model but in the end, everyone involved in this approach will be better for it.

Cross Country Provincials

2008-11-01T10:44:00.006-03:00

On Monday I had the chance to once again attend one of my favourite sporting events of the year; the NSSAF (Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation) Cross Country Running Provincials. This event sees approximately 700 athletes take part in six different races from 3km to 7km. This year the event was hosted at Citadel Hill in Halifax; an entirely grass course with many short ups and downs; although there were no really hard climbs, the nature of the course is that it is hard for athletes to get into a rhythm as they are lots of turns and climbs to break up the run. The weather forcast was for mild temperatures but showers in the morning; this was a bit of a concern as parts of the course stay wet at the best of times but if it had been only showers, the course probably would have been okay. Instead, we had pretty steady rain all day which added to the challenge presented to the athletes and resulted in some very tricky conditions for the later races.
I was there with twenty four athletes who would be competing in four of the races (Intermediate Girls, Intermediate Boys, Senior Girls and Senior Boys). At Regionals, we had two teams finish second and two teams finish fourth. Based on this, I felt that we had two strong shots at the podium as teams and the other two should have had a shot at being in the top seven teams. Also, individually at Regionals we had four athletes finish on the podium and were looking to have three athletes on the podium at Provincials.

Unfortunately I had four athletes who fell ill and did not compete and two that dropped out of the final race due to rolled ankles after falling down hills or on turns. This results in only two team scores but they were both in the races that we had a shot at the podium. In the end, one team finished sixth but the senior girls managed to capture third, only two points out of second and seven points from the first place team. Individually, we had two seconds and one third to cap a very successful season.

Read more here http://thechronicleherald.ca/Search/1087184.html.

Now, it's time to start building up for track!

Off Season

2008-10-20T20:32:00.003-03:00

In talking with athletes in general and triathletes specifically, one of the often overlooked keys to success is setting up an off-season. As the general rule with endurance training is swim/bike/run lots, or as often stated by Paulo Sousa, "More is more!"; it is often hard for athletes to scale back there training for a short period of time before beginning the training regime for the following season.

The off season does not have to be long but it is a chance for an athlete to get away from the rigid structure of their training plan and just train when and how much they feel. There will be some detraining during this time but it will also allow an athlete to refocus on their priorities and may also allow for any minor injuries that an athlete had been training through all season a chance to heal.

In general, I would have an athlete take four to eight weeks off structured training after their final race of the season and during this time, revisit their training and racing from the previous season. This will inform the goals for the following season and shape the pre-competitive training to come.

In my discussions with athletes, the underlying fear seems to be that they will lose the fitness they spent an entire season building. While it is true that some fitness will be lost, it is going to set the stage for building their fitness to the next level of the next season of training.

Further, many athletes seem to think the off season runs from the end of the last race of the current season to the first race of next season. While some athletes may approach their training in this manner, for athletes who truly want to make progress, a short off season followed by a focused pre-competitive training phase (four to seven months depending on your racing season) is what is going to lead to next season's PR's.