August 3, 2006

    Clinics

1. Espanola Triathlon Report
2. Locals at Parry Sound's Half Ironman
3. Melanie Muise Performs at World Duathlon Championships
4. Upcoming Events - Sudbury Fitness Challenge "Mountain Bike Tour" THIS SATURDAY

Espanola Triathlon Report

by Laura Haapamaki

Hello Vince and SudburyRocks!!!

I need to start off by saying congrats to my dad, Matti Haapamaki, for competing in the Espanola Triathlon. It took a bit of convincing, but my dad finally succumbed to my pleading and agreed to do the race.

It was an early (and cold) morning, as my alarm went off shortly after 5:30 am. Race start was at 7am, and proved to be one of my most enjoyed and best timed races ever. Being from Espanola, I was very happy and excited to be a part of this race.

The swim was nice, though weedy, and I ended up finishing in just over 12 minutes, and came out as first female (and more importantly, ahead of Drew). In transition, yes I know Vince, I lost time, struggling to get my wetsuit off, and get my shoes on, and ended up getting passed by two females that came out of the water behind me (but yet, still ahead of Drew). The bike was very fast and flat, which turned out to be harder than a hilly course. I found it hard to maintain my speed, as my legs quickly grew tired from simply spinning at over 100rpms. Thankfully, the race was head to head with another female which kept me going, as we were both fighting for first place. The entire 20 km saw us going back and forth, until finally at the end she had gotten just ahead (But again, I was still ahead of Drew).

Second transition. Man, I suck at these. First off, I had to find my shoes. Then I struggled again to get them on. At this point the first female was well on her way starting the run. As I am getting my shoes on I hear Vince “You’d better dig down deep for this run, Young Lady”. In all my years with SudburyRocks!!!, I’ve learned that when Vince uses the words “Young lady”, he’s being serious. After a few complaints of how tired I was from the bike and seeing Drew pass me in transition (yes, he finally caught up to me), I started my run. Seeing Drew just up ahead I had to yell “well, aren’t you going to wait for me”, and of course he put on the brakes, and we finished the race together coming in for my best finishing time of 1:16, and placing second female overall. (And even though both of our times say 1:16, I did cross the finish line before Drew J )

My dad came in a bit later, with a small sprint and a huge smile. I was so proud to see him cross that finish line, and just like any athlete who just finished a race feeling strong, he said he will commit himself to more training, and may join me in the Elliot Lake triathlon.

I definitely recommend the Espanola Tri, and have already marked it on my calendar for next year. Thanks to Steve Tremblay and Debbie Sokoloski for putting on such a great event. See you next year!

All Results here

Mike Coughlin adds:

The Espanola Triathlon entered its 5th year and is still going strong. Moving to a Sunday race date but still showcasing it's early bird 7am start time, 46 triathletes finished the race this year, including close to a dozen from the DZ Tri Team. Strong showings from DZ veterans Paul Graham (4th overall in 1:11:00), Steve Matusch (5th overall in ), Brad Walker (8th overall in 1:13:52), John Leonard (9th overall in 1:14:25) and Patti Socransky (3rd woman overall in 1:18:36) were complimented by great performances DZ Tri Team members and first time triathletes Leonora Nemet, Brooke Gougeon, Allyson Batchelor, Linde Corrigan, Evan Roberts and Marianne Larose. Congrats guys, and welcome to the club!

P.S. At the Bala Falls Triathlon, DZ athlete Chantal Demers brought her A game and was rewarded with a fabulous time of 1:35:17, earning her 25th overall, 4th woman and second in her age group. Way to go Chantal! Results here

Locals at Parry Sound's Half Ironman

Former local Wolfgang Guembel won the race but Mike Hay and Mike Coughlin were not far behind in this year's Parry Sound 1/2 Ironman Triathlon. Other locals competing were Clinton Lahnalampi, Andrew Thompson, Katherine Knight, Bethan McKevitt and Graham Campbell in the Sprint Distance.

Results Here

Parry Sound Half Ironman Report July 30, 2006

by Mike Coughlin

The Parry Sound Half Ironman was a "maybe" on my race schedule for 2006. That got upgraded to a "must do" after my mini-meltdown in Peterborough, and I'm glad it did. This was my first experience with the HSBC Triathlon Series directed by John Salt, and it was well organized, safe, and lots of fun. It was also a mere 95 minutes away from Sudbury, which is a welcome change from driving (or flying) long hours to find a good Half Ironman race.

Mike Hay and I drove down on Saturday to pick up our race packets and do a short swim bike and run on the race course. The weather was sketchy and the swim had the potential to be a killer! Some hills on the bike and run would also ensure for a challenging day. Mike and I were hosted by David and Marianne Bialkowski who operate Bialkowski Trysport, who also housed a few other athletes including the eventual race winners Kyle and Nicole Guembel and their parents. Lots of triathlon stories came out over dinner and many laughs ensued. Thanks David and Marianne for opening up your home again.

Race morning was a bit muggy, but much drier than Saturday with no risk of cancellation like the previous day's sprint. I have never seen a house so busy at 5am with athletes and supporters getting ready for 4-6 hours of racing. Lots of coffee was consumed at breakfast and everyone was pepped up and on-site in plenty of time.

Swim: 32:18 - 10/166 overall

After a short swim warmup, the gun was off and we started the 2 loop in water swim. My race plan was simple: Hold a solid but conservative pace for the swim and bike ride and consume 400kcal/hour so that I could have energy to run well and finish strong. With few people my pace in the water and no desire to hammer the first lap in search of fast feet, I moved up in the second lap and towed a small group to the finish. The 100m shallow water exit made the course a bit long, and I hit the mats in 32:18.

Bike: 2:32:52, 11/166 overall

After 48 seconds in T1, I was off and riding. Almost immediately, something felt wrong with my bike – I could hear a little "thump, thump, thump" from my back tire as I rolled along. Is it going flat? It didn't look that way. I ignored it for a while, but it was driving me nuts. Maybe there was something on the tire. I eventually stopped to inspect it, and to my horror I saw the sidewall of my tubular bulging slightly off the rim, apparently coming unstitched. How did I miss that when I inspected it last night?

"Well, if I flat, I flat" I thought to myself, and kept on trucking. The thumpity thump was driving me nuts though, and I had the added annoyance of saddle sores from my Ironman Training. I shifted on my seat more than Floyd Landis in the TdF Time Trial, searching for an aero position that didn't feel like somebody was poking me with a hot stick. On top of all of this, my stomach was acting up, apparently not too happy with my aggressive fueling strategy.

Normally I can focus well on the bike by concentrating on working hard, but I had promised myself to take it easier this time, with a heart rate a good 10 beats lower than I had in Peterborough. The lack of intensity made more room for annoyance and negative thoughts, including how sore my quads were getting from subconsciously supporting some of my weight to alleviate my tender butt.

By 55km I had worked my way up into 3rd and was riding according to plan, but I was still kind of miserable. When my rear tire blew at 60km, I was almost relieved – finally, something real to piss me off! I was not set up for a fast change (hand pump and all), but things went smoothly enough and I was riding again in under 6 minutes, with a bunch of new people in front of me. I tapped into the anger a bit and rode a solid tempo, but soon I realized what I was doing and settled back into my intended effort. I was off the bike with a split of 2:32:52, and running less than a minute later. I had drank 925kcal of InfinIT during the ride.

Run - 1:30:01, 8/166 overall

Starting the run, I was drinking more calories from my T2 bottle and was ready to follow it up with a fuel belt full of coke. No bonking this time! My stomach continued its protests, however, and I ditched the bottle pretty quickly (drank about 75kcal). I don't mind running with the fuel belt (much), and it was nice to have coke ready whenever my stomach would allow it. The middle section of the run was a touch slower than the start, but as my stomach (eventually) settled and the coke started to kick in, I found I still had energy. Yes! This was what I was hoping for the whole day. The first 2 guys in my age group were too far ahead, but I ran as hard as I could anyway, relishing the fact that I was able to push the last 30 minutes of the race.

I hit the line in 6th place with a time of 4:36:51 after a 1:30:01 run, and was thoroughly happy. Sure, things could have gone a whole lot better out there for me, but I accomplished what I came down to do and learned a pile of mental lessons along the way that should serve me well at Ironman Canada in a few weeks.

Congratulations to everyone who finished the race, including fellow Sudbury area athletes Kyle Guembel (who won the race in 4:08), Mike Hay (second in 4:23), Clinton Lahnilampi (13 th in 4:51), Katherine Knight (120th in 6:10 – PB!) and Andrew Thompson who had a stellar first outing over the distance coming in 17th with a 4:53!

Live your Dreams!

Mike

Melanie Muise Performs at World Duathlon Championships

by Mike Coughlin

This past Saturday, Cornerbrook Newfoundland hosted the World Duathlon Championships, and Discomfort Zone Athlete Melanie Muise was there to toe the line with the best age-group duathletes in the world. As you can read in the event report below, race day served up some good Newfie weather, and athletes had to contend with rain, and a tough, slippery bike course. This was Melanie's first World Championships, and she performed very well, coming 36/131 in the women's race and 10/19 in the 25-29 age group with a time of 2:19:41. Congratulations Melanie!

2:19:41 Melanie MUISE CAN 282 40:41 4:05 1:16:15 31.5 22:45 4:33

Full results at http://www.triourworld.com/uploads/File/World_Age_Group_Division.txt

From www.triathlon.org :

Age group Duathlon Results. (July 28, 2006 )
"The weather turned against the athletes and it poured and poured ….. in fact even the moose were lining up in twos!!

Under the watchful eye of David Markham, ITU TD, the athletes were reminded to be extra cautious on the bike section as the previous week a few juniors had skidded on freshly-painted road markings. Thankfully everyone heeded this warning and was fine.

The Racing got off to a great start with defending world champion from the Czech Republic, Miroslav KRSEK and 2005 world silver medallist from Denmark, Morgens SORENSEN going flat out and leaving the rest of the wave way behind – their performances set the tone for the day and despite the sometimes torrential rain and treacherous conditions, everyone raced to their utmost.

The huge Canadian contingent were well supported as they raced along the ups and downs of the run course and then out along the Humber Arm on the bike. The spectators, from around the world, made sure that all the athletes got cheered along the course but it was the depth and strength of Canada that took them to the top of the medal table in the Men's Race with a huge bag of 6 Golds, 2 Silvers and 3 Bronze. USA was hot on their heels but this was reversed in the Women's category with USA heading and Canada placing second. In the women's 45-49 yrs it was even a clean sweep for Canada !

Fastest time overall for the men was posted by the Brazilian athlete Jonas ROCHA in the 20-24 category – an astonishing 1:54:04 saw him well ahead of everyone else. He was one of the 25-strong team from Brazil – they came to enjoy the international buzz and will surely be leading the celebrations tomorrow night when they take their place on the podium.

In the women's race it was USA's Sarah KLODIN in the 25-29 category who posted 2:07:02 and the fastest time, second fastest went to another USA athlete, Suzanne HUELSTER in the next age group and Canadian Nancy BURDEN, in the 45-49 had third fastest.

An amazing defence of her title in the 70-74 category saw USA's Pat FOSSUM back to the top of the podium and beating several of the younger women on her way!

As the athletes finished, the sun began to shine. The hard-working volunteers from Corner Brook started to set up the Transition Area for tomorrow's Elite, Junior and U 23 races and it has to be said that without their dedication this event would never succeed. A tremendous thank you to Janice, Denise, Allen and Mark from all who raced here !"

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