Kelowna Apple - Race Report

The Kelowna Apple has long been one of my favourite races... key reasons?

- The organizers understand Paratriathlon and make it easy to compete

- The venue is perfect - lake = beautiful / bike course = fun / run course = flat

- Kelowna is easy to get to from Vancouver and the weather is always good

It's nice when the National Championship is hosted by one of your favourite races two years in a row!

Anyway, I spent my last post telling you all about how I was staying in my van, and enjoying the lifestyle of a traveling triathlete.... so I'll get down to race day...

Pre-Race: I woke up early and enjoyed two of those flattened multigrain buns with peanut butter, and a fair amount of Gatorade. This worked really well for me - the buns/peanut butter are calorie dense and easy to eat, the gatorade helps top up the hydration level and assists with washing down the buns. I usually hate eating in the early morning but this I can handle.

Note: It's kind of awesome waking up in the "kitchen" with the food right at hand, then moving 4 feet to the driver's seat and driving straight to transition with all your stuff. The van rules.

Morning in the van... timer shots... (what a nerd!)

Swim: I was looking forward to the swim this year. I have never done as much open water swimming as I have this year and I felt confident. I was happy to see a little chop on the surface of Lake Okanagan, as I felt it gave me an advantage since I swim through chop all the time in Batchelor Bay.

As always we Paratriathletes had our own wave, all 3 of us. That makes for a pretty smooth start and within 25 metres I was all alone. I settled in and worked. At the first buoy the chop became quite significant and I took a mouthful or two... I was a bit surprised and humbled. I didn't expect to be gasping and snorting h20... I got my rhythm back and went hard until I was catching the stragglers from the Sprint wave that left 5 minutes before us. It's fun to pass people like they are standing still (it's not that I am that fast - they actually were sort of standing still).

Result: 25:56 (2008 = 26:06).

I would have hoped for a lot more than a 12 second improvement but the conditions were tougher this year with the chop, and last year there were no Sprint waves in front to pick through...

Bike: There's not too much to say about the bike. It went very smoothly. I definitely lacked a bit of power heading up Knox Mountain (especially on lap 1 and 3, 2 felt good.) There was also a fair amount of wind to deal with on the out-and-back section and the flat section heading back into town....


With the wind and the injury earlier in the summer I am not too disappointed with my time.

Result: 1:15:27 (2008 = 1:14:20)

Run: I was openly nervous about the run. I have done almost 0 running for the last two-and-a-half months due to my injury. I also have a growing history of slow runs at the Apple. I was ready for anything from pain and walking to a surprising, smooth run.

In the end it was painful, not injury pain, just untrained pain. Simple fact - if you don't train for the run it will hurt. I was constantly mad at myself for not going faster but unable to conjure any extra speed from my legs. I wasn't wearing a watch (deliberately) but felt that I was going only marginally faster than a turtle. I even walked a couple of aid stations and failed to deliver any sort of "kick". It was lame.

Result: 51:04 (2008 = 53:00)

You'd think this improvement would make me happy but really it just made me realize that I sucked even more in 2008. In my report last year I said something to the effect of "I need to focus on this more".... yeah, that's still true.

OVERALL:

Result: 2:37:33

1st Paratriathlete

(2008 = 2:36:59)

Even though I was faster in two out of three disciplines I still ended up 34 seconds slower overall.... I was WAY slower in transition this year and that was mostly due to the fact I had my own helper last year (Deb). It makes a big difference when all the leg changing etc. goes smoothly.  I am also prepared to admit I just didn't bother rushing things...  I didn't bother putting elastic laces on my Nikes, I pulled on a sock, I just kind of took it easy...  it would have been different if someone had been breathing down my neck.  If I had any idea it would end up that close to last year I might have moved my a$$ a bit more.

All in all, I was pretty surprised that I was so close to last year's time - the conditions were tougher this year and my summer was far from ideal in the training department.

Conclusions: I will say it here and now: SUB 50 for sure on the run next year. It has to be or I'm just not learning....

More: I placed first in the Paratriathlon Category. There were only two guys in the category and we have different disabilities so it doesn't mean a whole lot.... but for the record I am a three-time National Champion. I will have another post coming soon about "what it all means..."

Thanks for reading - hope it wasn't too boring. These posts are mostly to help me remember what happened so that I can compare year to year, and race to race.

Ashley - Huge PR, and he won a trip and some new Oakley shades at the awards ceremony. Some guys have all the luck... Other great performances were turned in by Chelsea Raymond and Cindy Krampl from IF - unfortunately I have no photographic evidence though...

Jordan Back (we swim together at Batchelor Bay), unidentified female, and Mick Maguire getting the calls right from the announcer's booth.

I've seen people kill for these.... just kidding...

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Nationals Wrap & Race Report #4

Let's get the race report out of the way first...

In summary: I skied 5 of the 15 km and then decided to rest my back.  About 3 or 4 km into the race it was clear to me that this was going to be a torturous event on my back.  As I completed the first lap I weighed my options:

1.  Try to complete the final 10km in pain.

2.  Call it a day.  Live to fight (walk) another day.

The choice was fairly clear to me... I didn't feel I had much to prove by fighting this injury.

I had seriously considered not starting the race since I felt like 15km with a recently injured back was a tall order.  In the end, I think it was my success at the sprint on Friday that convinced me to give it a shot.

This one isn't eating me up...  I had an awesome week.

So onto Nationals Wrap-Up

4 Events

1 Silver Medal

1 Bronze Medal

2 Good Races

2 Not Good Races

In the end I outperformed my expectations.  I feel that to come away with two medals after 3.5 months of skiing is a great accomplishment and one that I am very proud of.

I'd like to take a moment to thank George and Kathy for all of their wax work.  My teammates and fellow competitors for showing up every day and pushing hard.  Yoshihiro Nitta for showing me how far I have to go!  Tony for helping me get to two Nationals podiums in record time.  My sponsors:  Innovative Fitness for keeping me in shape and ready to rock, Rudy Project for their superior eyewear used in every race, Team DHL for supporting our team and the Momentum Foundation for helping me to reach another goal.

I feel as though I am on track or ahead of pace to reach my 2010 Paralympics goal.  At this event I hoped to establish myself as a contender for a spot on the National Team (qualification races are in December).  I feel that I succeeded in that goal.  

The downside of the week was obviously the injury and the two races that were sacrificed due to it.  This is a case of "#%!@ happens"...  Or, as Robin McKeever so succinctly put it, "You will have to learn not to fall."

Crashing is part of the sport - I crashed.  No, need to break out the violin.  There is little doubt that as my skills improve I will be less likely to eat snow...

So, with that I close the door on my first season as a Nordic Racer.  I will probably find the energy and time to give a season report at some stage...  but for now I am looking forward.

On the horizon (in the order they will arrive):

- Holiday - Kauai for 2 weeks starting tomorrow!

- Triathlon training - starting as soon as the back is ready (maybe 4 or 5 days for running and cycling, hopefully earlier for swimming.)

- April 20 - Sun Run

- May 11 - Cultus Lake Triathlon

- May 23 - Baby #3 is due!!!

- June 7 - Triathlon World Championships

Some photos from the week...

                           On the podium at the Banquet - Silver Medal in the Sprint Race

                           Yoshihiro Nitta (the Bullet Train) - Winner of all 4 races this week.

The Canadian Medallists in the Sprint - Mark Arendz (middle), Myself (right) and Alexei Novikov

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Nationals - Race Report #3

Today was a good day.  I had a good feeling about this race ever since I saw it on the Race Notice.  Nordic Sprints are very cool... if you ever get the chance to watch a high level sprint like the one today you should make the time to check it out.... (there's a pretty good one coming in Feb. 2010...)  Today we witnessed several Olympic gold medallists, several World Champions and many stars of the x-c world in the most exciting event of the week.

My approach to today's race was simple - apply copious A535 to my lower back, warm-up as much as possible to loosen the muscles... then grit my teeth and ignore the pain for 1200 metres.  I was a bit worried that under the extra strain of a sprint it might hurt way more, but in fact I think the adrenaline of the sprint format helped a lot.

The qualification round is a time-trial from which the top four move on to the final.  (The format changed from what I described yesterday because one skier from our category didn't start the race.) 

9:03:15 - Starting Gate.  I started 7th and despite my sore back I felt pretty positive.  I enjoy the all-out nature of these sprints.  When I got the green light I put the hammer down and went as hard as I could from start to finish.  My back cooperated through the 4 minute effort - I felt it the whole way but I doubt it slowed me down too much.  I was pretty excited to qualify for the final with the day's 3rd fastest time.

The final was set for 12:30pm and I approached it exactly the same way as I did the morning race...  The final is far more exciting as racers take to the course together and the first to the line wins.  To achieve fairness across the Para-Nordic category the organizers employ a "Hunter" start.  This is too complex to go into, but essentially racers start at slightly different times (but within a few seconds of each other) to take into account different "disabilities" - this allows a "first to the line wins" scenario.

So, we headed off together and it wasn't long before all of us Canadians were admiring the caboose of the Bullet Train (Nitta - took home the win - again).

When the dust settled I had third place - 2nd place Canadian = silver medal!  "Not too shabby" I thought to myself as I wheezed loudly at the finish line.

Lessons:  

- Pay attention to attitude and routines on those days when you have a "good feeling" - try to re-create the same feelings and routines on days that don't set up as well from the outset.

- Sometimes injuries only require a straw to overcome (i.e. suck it up.)  Just hope that it isn't the straw that breaks the camel's back though....  I was lucky today (and I did use a bit more than a straw... 2 massages, 2 hours of hot tub, 1 hour of hot bath, 1 tube of A535...)

Next Race:  Sunday - 15km Classic, Mass Start.  This one could be tough...  to "suck it up" for 4 minutes is one thing - 15km is quite another.

Thanks for reading...  I don't have any shots yet from the podium or the race - I hope to soon.  So, instead I'll leave you with one that is way better.

Quatchi: $26.95

Sumi:  $26.95

Miga:  $26.95

Seeing your children obsessed with the Olympics (well, at least the mascots):  Priceless

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Mama said there'd be days like these... Nationals - Race Report #2

Well the relative glory of Tuesday's bronze medal was tempered by an unsuccessful outing yesterday...

As previously mentioned, yesterday's race was a 7.5km skate race.  Our category drew a late start (1:15pm) which was a bit different...  I am used to racing in the morning.  I liked it actually...

The conditions were challenging - snow was falling fairly heavily all day so the course was very soft.  The light was very flat and the course was strewn with sitzmarks (a jaunty x-c term for an ass-shaped divot in the snow caused by a wipe-out.)

This sounds like a list of excuses just waiting to be trotted out... in fact these things didn't bother me too much and had little to do with my eventual undoing...

The race was 2 x 3.75km laps...  I had completed one lap before my troubles began.  Things were going fairly well I figured...  I had only been passed by one skier (the bullet train known as Nitta from the Land of the Rising Sun - he went on to win this race as well.)  I felt decent...  was working hard but had gas left in the tank.  

So, enough suspense... my crash was of the low velocity variety, but would have received high marks for awkwardness.  It occurred in the stadium - the flattest, easiest and, coincidentally, most public, part of the course.  I don't know why I dumped it there....  I must have hit a hole in the snow, or caught an edge or something.  I rose from the snow ASAP (as you do when you eat it in front of 100s of people...) and headed out of the stadium towards the next hill on the course...  once the adrenaline of the wipeout (and the embarrassment) subsided I was faced with the steepest and longest hill on the course.  Unfortunately, I also found myself fighting a fairly large dose of pain from my back.  I had twisted quite awkwardly during my faceplant...  and now climbing the hill was proving to be almost impossible.  I stopped a couple of times (much to the chagrin of several spectators on the side of the course) and tried to restart, but I was making almost no progress on this hill.  Ultimately, I elected to stop.  DNF.

I proceeded tentatively to the medical tent where I was diagnosed with a pulled/strained spinal erector muscle.  I was fairly relieved that it wasn't a slipped disc or pinched nerve or some such terrible sounding back ailment (I have no experience with back trouble so I was significantly worried.)

Race diagnosis = disappointing.  I have failed to finish a race one time before...  that time I passed out from heat exhaustion so the decision was out of my hands.  This time I decided to quit.  Choosing to quit is a different animal... one that lives with you for a while.  Unfortunately, this pain may live with me for a while as well.

Race Lessons:

- Some days you will fail.  Remember how much you hate it and channel it towards kicking ass the next time.

- Turn the page.  Like an NHL goalie that lets in a bad goal - forget about it or get ready to watch another one go in.

So, with this sage advice in mind:

- tomorrow's race is a 1200 metre Sprint - a time trial first thing in the morning, seeding, a semi-final, and a final (if all goes well.)  This is actually the event I have been looking forward to the most for the week - it is exciting - first to the line wins (no interval start).

Whether I can perform tomorrow will be the question.... my back still hurts.  I got an initial treatment in the medical trailer from Mikhail (an RMT associated with our Para-Nordic Team) which calmed the spasms and gave me some relief.  Today I had a 60 minute massage from Mary-Beth at Peak Performance in Whistler - she really concentrated on the area and loosened it up quite a bit.  I have spent significant time in the hot tub and have also spent about 30 hours with my fingers crossed.

If it hurts too much I won't make it to the semi-final so I don't think there is a big risk.  If it goes well I will still only have to ski 3 x 1200m.

Wish me luck - hopefully tomorrow's post will be a little more fun.  

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Nationals - Race Report #1

Today was a 5km, Interval Start, Classic Race.

Knowing that many readers may not know what all that means, I provide the following mini-glossary:

- 5km... this is a dist... just kidding...

- Interval Start - Skiers start every 15 or 30 seconds instead of all at once (Mass Start)

- Classic Technique - This is the older form of x-c skiing - looks kind of like an elongated gliding run....  Skiers use skis with a "grip zone" under the boot to allow "grip" to go uphill.  The "grip zone" is waxed differently to grip instead of glide...

Going in I felt pretty good...  No aches and pains, ready to go.  So, after a couple of warm-up loops I entered the starting pen.  A few minutes later I toed the line and headed off...

Two laps of 2.5km.  The first lap felt a lot better than the second...  I am definitely not negative splitting these courses yet.  I found I had some grip difficulties but was able to handle the uphills using a herringbone run.  I had good power on the flats using my double poling and kick-double-poling techniques...  I only got passed by one skier (a Japanese skier named Nitta - the eventual winner and the second ranked skier on the IPC World Cup circuit), and I passed several.

The second lap proved a bit more challenging as I started to have a lot of moisture build-up inside my leg's socket - the warm weather and high humidity I figure...  Also I was getting tired.  I am still blown away by how fatiguing a 5km ski race can be - I am used to thinking of 5km as next to nothing - but it can definitely leave you absolutely exhausted.

The main challenge on this course is the fast winding downhill sections...  it is easy to lose control on these.  Fortunately, I managed to remain upright despite my best efforts to fall (it was close).

At the end of the day I placed 3rd.  Bronze medal baby...  I'll take it.  To be honest I really didn't know where I'd end up against all these guys - I have never raced in a field this big (not sure exactly how many there were, but around 14 0r 15 Para-Nordic racers.)  

Lessons learned:  

- Take it easy in treacherous corners - falling takes a lot longer than slowing down

- Be ready for sweat in the socket - even when temp is low

Tomorrow's race is a 7.5km, Interval Start, Free technique (this means skate skiing).

                     That's me on the podium - check out the sweet medal - nicest I've ever seen...

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Nationals Day 2 + 3

Well the waiting is almost over...  tomorrow we race.  9am start.

Yesterday, was an off day - couldn't train as the Team Sprints were being held on the course.  I started the day with a trip to the dump (got rid of the dryer)... There are few feelings as satisfying as tipping a dryer into an empty steel container (WHAMMM!)...

...then the four of us went to a little cafe for breakfast - following which Aia got sick (on the bed...) and I did too (but not on the bed).... fortunately, it passed really fast for both of us.

  

Remember when they introduced the Olympic Mascots for 2010 a few months ago??  Sumi, Quatchi and Miga?

Many thought these three were a bit... how shall I say it??... Japanese?  Well, not very Canadian anyway. It's strange that an imaginary character (the sasquatch) could be deemed Japanese but hey....   Anyway, I learned quickly what the mascot designers were thinking when we passed a gift shop and Mattias and Aia were struck with the Olympic Spirit. Wow - they love these guys! Bingo - half of my Cross Country BC weekly food stipend out the window on stuffed animals. I'm a sucker for the Olympics too....  

I got a massage for some sore muscles later in the day.  Dinner.  Team BC meeting.  Bed.  Done and done.

Today I started with a training session at the Callaghan Valley - hit the trail at 9.  Had an enjoyable ski with a fellow named Robin McKeever - he is one of Canada's top Nordic Racers (able bodied), he graciously went slowly enough for me to keep up :)  Everything felt good, the adjustment Michael recommended for my ski foot worked like a charm. I am very happy with it... Robin had a few ideas to refine it even more which I will run by Michael after Nat's.

We checked out of one hotel and into another - we are now settled for the week.  This is good as all the location shifting sort of sucks - we don't pack lightly.  The highlight of the day for Mattias and Sacha may have been Horton Hears a Who (it's a movie), which for Aia and myself was a great chance to nap.  Not that it wasn't excellent - I liked the little I saw.

More exciting posts to come....  two races in the next two days.

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Nationals Day 1

Training Day

My races are Tues, Wed, Fri, and Sunday so today was a day to ski the courses a few times, tweak the new ski leg and take it easy.

The day began with a solo drive to the Callaghan Valley, gave me a great chance to get some thinking in....  complicated times right now for the Jones Clan.  We are homeless (unless you count Maple Leaf storage at Park Royal), we are completing a huge reno on our house, I have my most important races of the winter approaching, and we will be staying in three different places in the next three nights....  complex.  Under control though...

Anyway, Whistler Olympic Park was jammed with hundreds of very fast skiers.  I parked right beside Chandra Crawford's Toyota Prius - how did I know you may ask...  well her name was plastered on the side - she must be sponsored by a Toyota dealer or toyota itself.  Chandra, for those of you that are unfamiliar with X-C ski racing, is an Olympic Gold medallist and the face of Canadian X-C.

So I chilled in the car putting together my new leg, then after a 20 minute battle to get it into the boot (I asked for it to be tight) I hit the trail.  Right away I knew it was WAY better.  The edge was rock solid and never seemed to slip...  in fact so much so that I was concerned I was always on edge (which would be bad... one needs to lay the ski flat to go fast on downhills.)

After an hour or so I had concluded that the KASL was damn near perfect except for the perma-edge problem.  On the way home I called Michael to report my findings (and ask how to fix the one issue.)  He provided me with a super-simple explanation as to why the problem was there (my installation was out of alignment...).  Tomorrow I should be 100%.  

My day went steadily downhill after a delightful lunch at Crepe Montagne with Sacha and Aia (Mattias was ripping up the tube park with his buddy Finlay).

I will make a long story short by saying that 40 minutes after lunch I was up to my ankle in water trying to stop my washer from overflowing.  120 minutes later I was at the dump with said washer...  Dryer goes tomorrow.  I also shoveled about 200 lbs of my tenants #@%^ out of the laundry room.  He is in my bad books (though I suspect he couldn't care less.)

Anyway, washer and dryer flipping and squatting is probably a perfect taper workout for the week ahead....  (and spending 2 hours at the laundromat with the wife and kids was awesome too... actually it wasn't that bad, we played Monopoly - Mattias won.)

Sorry, no pics - dial-up access too slow to upload...  Do you remember when connecting to the internet sounded like this?

eeeeiii-shshhhhhchhshh-eiiiiishhhhsheieishhshshh-neeeeiiisheinneniishiishi

I do, because I heard that sound 10 minutes ago...  I'll call it 'rustic' (because we are in the mountains, and it sounds better than "lame" or "Amish" - two other excellent descriptors for dial-up access.)

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Ski Nationals

If you have nothing better to do next week you should consider attending the Haywood Ski Nationals at the Callaghan Valley near Whistler.

Things you will enjoy seeing:

- Canada's best Nordic racers (including Olympic Gold medallists)

- The Olympic Venue for 2010 - Whistler Olympic Park

- Canada's best Para-Nordic Athletes

- Exciting racing

- Beautiful alpine scenery

- Yours truly....  (last but not least...)

The Race Notice contains the week's schedule...  

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