Thursday, June 23, 2005

Summer Triathlon Clinic Starts July 6

Click here for PDF Brochure

 

There is just 2 more weeks until the start of my 2005 Summer Triathlon Clinic. This 8 week clinic includes lectures, technique instruction, and workouts that will challenge you in a supportive environment that will bring out your best.

The clinic goes Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm starting July 6. Cost for the clinic is $125. For more information, please see the attached poster. You can register by emailing me here or at

mike@discomfortzone.com.

YTri News - Muskoka Weekend Edition

Well another Muskoka weekend has come and gone, marking the "real" opening of the Ontario triathlon season. This was my third Muskoka weekend in a row, and it is just fabulous to see how well represented the North is at this fabulous event. I have now officially lost count of the number of folks from the Sudbury area alone that participate in the Sprint and Long Course triathlons and duathlons. And many more show up to lend moral support. There is something pretty cool about arriving at an event where the 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist (Simon Whitfield) and a 2x Hawaii Ironman World Champion (Luc Van Lierde) are racing, and running into literally dozens of your training partners, co-workers and friends. Following in the tradition of last year, you can read my top 10 list of memories from the weekend below. You can also read Paul Graham's report about his first attack on the Long Course along with his report from Milton 2 weeks ago.

In this Issue....

Top 10 Memories of Muskoka 2005
Milton and Muskoka Race Reports - by Paul Graham

Top 10 Memories of Muskoka 2005

10. Watching friend Jason Wicke win the sprint
9. Hearing the wind whip around my borrowed super-duper go-fast aero helmet (which my girlfriend calls the ugliest thing she has ever seen!)
8. Kyle Guembel and Nicole van Buerden getting engaged (Kyle put the proposal on the back of his racing singlet!)
7. Cheering for Steve Tremblay as he qualified for IM Lake Placid (see you there, buddy!)
6. Witnessing Samantha McGlone squashing the field in the Muskoka chase (wow!)
5. Clocking Simon Whitfield running at an incomprehensible 3:12/km off the bike to win the men's title
4. Watching my friend and athlete Dave Welsh finish strong (awesome job buddy!)
3. Hearing my name being called by fellow athletes and supporters throughout the day
2. Cheering on the many friends I saw on the course
1. Feeling the pure bliss of swimming, biking and running on a beautiful spring morning in cottage country

see you all (and hopefully more) in Muskoka next year!

-------------------------------------------------
Milton and Muskoka Race Reports - by Paul Graham

Hi Mike,
Guess its time that I write a bit of a race report.

Milton, first race of the season, and the big test of my training. Over the
winter I was swimming with the Laurentian Masters swim club, and following a
Battista's rigorous cycling program. I was expecting big things, and to make
things interesting I decided that I wanted to beat Bill Leonard. He hadn't
been training much, so I figured I might have a chance.

The swim start went fairly well, appart from the three elbows I got in the face.
In the transition area I was pleasently surprised by the number of bikes still
around. A good sign. On the bike course I was feeling good, except for the
people passing me. Luckly it was mostly the fast guys in the wave behind me,
but there were a couple guys from my age group that got past. Back in for T2,
and off to the run. You've gotta love that 1st hill first thing into the run
in Milton. The rest of the run was pretty good, if not terribly hot.
Everything felt much better than last year, and my finishing time was 11
minutes faster. Good enough for 13th in my age grou, but unfortunatly Bill was
still a minute and a half ahead. Overall it was a great encouragement, and I
know there's still tons of room for improvement.

2 weeks later, Muskoka long course. I was a little more nervous about this one,
as it was the longest distance I've done to date. I'm planning on doing the
Peterborough 1/2 if everything went well in Muskoka... and unfortunately
everthing did go well. I found a pair of feet on the swim to draft behind, and
got out of the water in record time (for me) still feeling completely fresh.
After a small problem with my bike shoes I was off on the bike. It wasn't long
before Mike and his helmet passed me. After the 1st turn around I started
playing leap frog with a girl in my age group. We passed each other about a
dozen times before she suggested that she'd take one hill and I'd get the next.
It worked for me, and with 5k to go I was finally able to pull ahead for good.
Or so I thought... With about 4k to go I felt a distinct wobble in my front
wheel. Worried that I might have a flat I looked down only to see it
catastrophically fail. Not good, but luckly it wasn't a huge hill that I was
going down, and I did have a spare tube and pump with me. Changing it as
quickly as I could I found a 3" long hole where the tube had blown up. Perhaps
the discouraging sound is the whoosh of tons of cyclists passing you while
you're desperately trying to change your tire. The final 4k weren't as great
as the previous 51, but I knew it would be over shortly.

I was unsure how the run was going to feel, mostly because my legs didn't feel
the greatest when I was warming up. I decided that I'd take it easy on the way
out of town just to make sure everthing was working the way it should. Going
out to the turn around I was able to keep a decent pace, probably getting
passed by a couple more people than passed me. Once I was on the way back it
was a different story. Everything was feeling great, and I was able to turn it
up a notch for the run back into town. I crossed the finish line with a time
of 3:30:41 I was really happy with the day. I could have done without the
flat, but I guess we all get one of those now an then. Congrats to everybody
else from Sudbury. There were some impressive results, and a great showing all
around.

As for me, it looks like I'm heading to Peterborough for July 10th. But before
then I hope to do the Northbay tri, and the firecracker 5k. Hopefully I'll see
you all there.
Paul

Coughlin, Mike
E-mail Address(es):
mcoughlin@hrsrh.on.ca.