In the Calgary airport right now for my flight. I’m off to Europe for 3 races in 3 weeks. First up is the Kitzbuhel WCS, followed by a French Grand Prix race in Tours, and then another WCS race in Hamburg. We’ll be based out of Kitzbuhel for most of our stay.

I’m looking forward to racing in France. This will be my first race with the Metz team. It’s a sprint race so it’s going to be very fast and probably a bit chaotic as there’s typically 80-90 guys that start!

I’ve had a lot of great support this past week from family, friends, fellow athletes and coaches following a tough couple of races. I spent a lot of my downtime emailing and meeting with a bunch of different people getting advice on nutrition/hydration strategies. I’ve developed a pretty good plan of attack for the next few races and I feel confident that I can sort things out. It’s probably going to take a bit of tweaking from race to race so I’m going to be patient, but I’m looking forward to it!

Time to fly!

I didn’t get much sleep last night and woke up this morning feeling like someone used my stomach as a punching bag. I’m very disappointed. I felt so rested coming into this race and after what happened last weekend I was motivated and confident that I could put together a great race.

The day started awesome! I had another great spot on the pontoon lining up once again beside Jan Frodeno. As soon as I hit the water I felt great and knew it was going to be a good swim. I swam right beside Courtney Atkinson out to the first turn buoy which set me up great and eventually translated into the best swim of my career, exiting the water in the top 10. I had a quick transition and headed out onto the bike in about 5th place.

I felt strong throughout the bike, was well positioned in the pack, and was able to respond to a bunch of different attacks. Coming into transition I was up near the front of the group and I was able to get out quick.

I tried not to get too excited and focused on staying relaxed for the first kilometre of the run. I was sitting in about 10th place, still well within contention, but about a half a lap in I could feel my stomach starting to cramp up. I tried to work it out but it got progressively worse. By the end of the first lap I was relegated to a jog. On the second lap it got really bad. My entire abdomen seized up and I was struggling just to put one foot in front of the other. Had it been any other race I would have just pulled the plug but with a guaranteed pay cheque waiting at the finish I had to keep going. The third and fourth laps were very rough. I had to walk several times and even stopped at one point to try and stretch it out. First time I’ve ever done that!

I’ve had a lot of problems with cramping in the past but I can’t remember the last time it was this bad. It’s hard to say exactly what the cause was but I think electrolytes definitely played a role. I could even feel my forearms cramping up when I grabbed bottles at the water stops. Regardless, the last couple weeks have been frustrating. I had such a great training block coming into these two races so it’s sad that I wasn’t able to perform. Last week my bike failed me and this week my body gave up on me.

There’s obviously some positives that I can take away from the race. Heck, if you had told me before the race that I would be top 10 out of the water and in the lead group right from the start of the bike (with over a $500 000 in prize money on the line) I would have laughed and said show me the money!

I know I’m fit and I’ve been running well but I will definitely be sitting down with Coach Phil over the next week to figure some things out before we leave for Europe. It seems like I have the swim and bike down so I can’t afford to have things go wrong on the run, that’s the part I’m supposed to be good at!

The rest of the guys had a great weekend. Simon put on a show once again! I just watched the replay of the sprint…I love his reaction after winning. Both Lauren and Brent had great races too. Very happy for the whole team.

Yesterday was round 3 of the World Championship Series in Washington, DC. I was sitting in 23rd place on the rankings going into this race and figured with a good result I good put myself into the top 15.

I had a pretty good starting position right beside Olympic Champ Jan Frodeno on the pontoon. I had a great start. I got on Frodeno’s feet for the first 200 metres. It was a little rough going around each of the turn buoys so I lost a few positions, but I was still in a great spot. On the second loop I basically maintained my position and exited the water in the middle of the group.

I had a fairly smooth transition. There were five guys who had a gap out of the water so the pace was on right away. Everyone was strung out for the first couple kilometres but it didn’t take long for our chase group to form. There were about 30 of us trying to close the 40 second gap on the five leaders. I worked really hard for the first three laps with a bunch of other guys. We made up about 10 seconds on one lap but then lost it back… and more. There was the odd surge to get something going but after about 5 laps the pace had definitely slowed. At that point I just put myself near the front of the group to stay out of trouble and wait for the run. I felt very comfortable on the bike. My legs felt good and I was ready to run fast!

With less than one lap to go I was sitting in about 3rd spot in the group when suddenly my bike didn’t feel right. I could hear something weird. I looked down and my back tire was flat. Needless to say I wasn’t too happy! I had just rode 7 laps with no issues and then with less than one to go I flat…very frustrating! Luckily I wasn’t too far from a wheel stop. I pulled over to get it changed. I hopped off my bike and watched the entire pack fly by. Unfortunately I flatted on the fastest part of the course. It was a long, gradual, downhill straightaway and the group was probably riding over 50 km/h. I was now standing at 0 km/h watching the pack disappear up the road. At that point I pretty much knew my race was over. The mechanic was very helpful though. It wasn’t the smoothest change but I got a new wheel and continued on. I rode the rest of the lap on my own and entered transition about a minute down on the group. At that point I knew for sure I was out of the money (and a shot at any decent points) and realized the best thing to do was to save myself for Des Moines this weekend. It seemed as though a few of the top guys had similar thoughts as there were quite a few dnf’s. With my Dad and Lawrence there watching (having driven 10 hours from Oakville) I still wanted to finish the race. I decided to run the first lap at a tempo effort to get a bit of a workout in and then I shut it down for the last three laps. It was a nice long cool down that included a fair bit of profanity but a good release of frustration. It was sad because my legs actually felt really good. I think it would have been a good day…but, this stuff happens. It’s all part of racing…a crappy part, but nonetheless a part of it.

By the time I finished I had calmed myself down and was already thinking about the opportunity I have in Des Moines this weekend. Looking forward to it!

Which means today is packing day! I’m just about ready to go. Bike’s in the box, clothes are in the bag, and I think I’ve got all the other mumbo jumbo I need for the next 12 days in the US of A.

I’m really excited for this next set of races. Things seem to be coming together at the right time. My body is feeling good and I’m ready to go.

I’m also very excited that my Dad is coming to watch the race in Washington! I haven’t seen him since Christmas so it’s pretty cool that I’ll get to see him on Fathers Day. When I was growing up my parents never missed any of my races. It’s tough now when I’m all over the world competing so it’s nice to have a race that’s close enough to home. Unfortunately my Mom can’t come but my Dad will be driving down from Oakville with Lawrence Holmes (a family friend, two-time Olympic wrestler, and big supporter of mine). Looking forward to seeing them on Friday!

Here’s some pictures from a 5k I did a while back. Apparently I close my eyes a lot when I run.

All photos courtesy of Deb Hopkins.

Almost time to race! Three more days of training here in Vic and then it’s off to Washington on Thursday for round 3 of the World Champs Series.

Saturday was our last “big” transition workout. The bike was 3×15min…two of them at threshold w/ some sprints thrown in and one motorpacing. Run off the bike was 3×9min. The session went well. I was feeling a bit sluggish earlier in the week so it felt good to find my running legs again!

This morning was an 85min base run around the lakes followed by an easy 3k swim. Other than that it’s been pretty quiet. Kelly went back to Ontario on Friday to visit with her family so I’ve been “bacheloring it” the last few days.

Here’s a couple pictures from an icing session down at the ocean last week…Kelly “standing on water” and me with my little icing buddy.

Yesterday I started the day watching Federer win the French Open. That was awesome, love watching him play. Kelly got right into it too. I don’t know whether she enjoyed the tennis or watching Federer…but it was fun. After the match, I headed out for a long run with Simon, Austin, and A.Mac out at Royal Roads. Nice and easy…and entertaining. Austin made the time fly by!

When I got back from the run, the Prefontaine Track and Field Classic was just starting. I got to watch a few Canadians in action. Nate Brannen was 3rd in the mile in a quality field with a pretty fast time so that was cool to see.

The rest of the afternoon was very relaxing. Kelly slaved away in the kitchen making a fantastic looking dinner while I did what I do best…stayed out of the way and watched game 2 of the NBA finals.

Now I’m off to swimming and then catching a flight over to Vancouver for the Teck Team press conference. It’s the official announcement of the 2009 National Team and the launching of the new Olympic quadrennial.

This morning we did our transition workout in the lab at PISE. We started with a 30min easy spin and then a short 15min run with some accelerations to warm up.  A quick change and then we started the set.

The bike was 40min with 7min at just below threshold, 3×2min over threshold, and then a 15min piece as 4min steady/1min hard. Then, straight onto the treadmill for 15min as 3min hard, 6min tempo, 6min race pace. We did a 10min easy cool down and then right into round 2, which was basically half the workload. 20min on the bike with a mix of intervals and then transition to the treadmill for 90sec hard, 3min tempo, 3min race pace. The workout went well. I felt really strong running off the bike. Very solid morning! Looking forward to the next set of races!

While I was at PISE Kelly was completing her last exam at the hospital. She is now officially done first year of Medical School! I am very proud of her! Now we both have the afternoon off to hang out and chill!

Man I was doing so well there! Four updates in one week, that’s gotta be a record for me. Anyway, training has been going really well the last few weeks. Lots of intensity and speed sessions! I’ve really been enjoying it. I’m feeling strong right now but there’s still some work to do before Washington. We have 4 weeks so there’s lots of time!

It’s been nice having Simon back….a good reminder of what “fast” is. We had a great session on Saturday together. He really took it to me!

Other than that nothing too exciting going on. Kelly’s been studying like crazy! She writes her first exam tomorrow. I can’t believe how much stuff she has to memorize, it’s insane! One of her classes is called “Host Defenses and Infections” where she has to learn about all kinds of different infections that people can get. The other night, after a looooong day of studying, she asked me if I wanted to have salmonella for dinner. It sounded tempting but I declined..she meant salmon.

Tomorrow we’re doing a run workout with Jon Brown (4th in both the 2000 & 2004 Olympic Marathon). Really looking forward to that, should be fun!

Last night I raced the “Black Press 5000” at the Oak Bay track. One of the things I love the most about living in Victoria is the incredible running community here. There’s always tons of events being organized that athletes can hop into. Last night was a perfect example. Philippe originally planned a run workout with 3k-5k pace intervals but when we found out about the 5k we decided to take advantage of it.

Ryan McKenzie (a 13:35 5k runner) and Scott Simpson (who was trying to run in the low 14’s) showed up so I knew it would be fast. Ryan went out in what I would assume was a pretty easy pace for him which was good for me as I was able to get into a good rhythm from the start. I was able to run with Ryan and Scott for the first 2-3 laps, but after that I was pretty much on my own as they pulled away. It ended up being a bit of a time trial for the last 3.5k. I focused on trying to hold 70 second laps and in the end I ran 14:37. I was happy with the effort. A good way to finish off the week and a 7 second personal best.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and cheering!

5,000 Metres – High Performance Men

1 Ryan McKenzie PA 30 14:02.8
2 Scott Simpson PIH 29 14:21.7
3 Kyle Jones PIH 24 14:37.3
4 Trevor O’Brien PA 30 15:22.8
5 Ian Hallam PIH 37 15:48.8
6 Paul O’Callaghan PIH 44 16:16.4
7 Walter Cantwell PIH 41 16:39.6
8 Simon Dejongh PA 30 16:52.9
9 Gord Christie PIH 47 16:58.0
10 Mike Lord PIH 37 17:27.7