Kyle Jones
Canadian TriathletePan Am Champs
This past weekend I was in La Paz, Argentina for the Pan American Championships. It’s not often we race so early in the season but with important Olympic points up for grabs the long trip was well worth it.
I’m very happy to start the 2012 season on the podium with a 3rd place result, finishing just behind teammate Brent McMahon and race winner Tyler Butterfield who broke away on the bike to setup his well earned victory.
I felt fit coming into this race. It’s a long season with many different trips and we had to decide how much emphasis we wanted to place on this one race. I was confident in my training leading up and felt like I could pull it off with little disruption to the overall plan. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the win but overall I’m happy with it. The focus is still the World Series races in April and May so need to keep that in perspective, but we’re off to a very good start!
Navy Base Swimming
Due to the temporary closing of Crystal Pool here in Victoria our squad has been making alternate arrangements for our swim sessions.
For 3 weeks in December we were welcomed by the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt to use the Naden Athletic Centre. Here’s some footage from one of our workouts at the Navy base.
Music: Houdini – Foster the People
Boxing Day 10 miler
Yesterday I ran the Boxing Day 10 mile road race in Hamilton, Ontario. It was the 91st running of the event but only my first time racing. For anyone living in the southern Ontario area who hasn’t participated before, I strongly recommend it. A well run event with a tough course to burn off all that turkey! I was very happy to get the win in a time of 50:28.
Click here for results
Click here for Hamilton Spectator article
Crossing the finish line
Post race with family
With 2 of my biggest supporters, Glen & Norma Lawson from Chip Time Results
Track Tuesday
It has been just over 3 weeks since I’ve been back working with coach Joel Filliol. It has been a very positive change, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I’m really enjoying working with him again and training has been rolling along quite nicely.
Here’s a sneak peek of what our Tuesday afternoon session looks like:
Music: Tonight is the night – Outasight
Triathlon Ontario Dinner
Saturday evening in Toronto I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker at the Triathlon Ontario annual awards dinner. Triathlon Ontario has been a huge supporter of my career ever since my early days racing as a junior. It was great to be able to give back in a small way by sharing my journey in sport and what I’ve been able to accomplish with their support. It was also nice to catch up with some of the guys I used to train with back in the day. On top of all that Kelly and I even got the chance to spend some quality time with our family!
Another 4th place
In 2007 I raced my first Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where I nearly missed the podium with a 4th place finish. It was tough to go home from the Games empty handed after coming so close, but overall I was happy with the result.
Fast forward to yesterday. Four years later and another 4th place finish. However, this time around it was a different story. I came to these Games with the expectation of winning. In my mind, nothing else mattered. Winning a medal would have been nice but with an Olympic country spot up for grabs, Gold was all that counted here. So, I’m finding it hard to be happy with this result.
I felt like my preparation for this race went very well so it’s frustrating not being able to deliver on the day. The running form I’ve had the last couple of weeks was nowhere to be seen on Sunday. It felt as though I was stuck in 4th gear the whole way and wasn’t able to go any quicker. Certainly not how you want to feel on race day.
Although it would have been nice to finish off the season with a win, overall I’m very happy with my year. I’ve made steep progressions since my surgery only eleven months ago and this result leaves me with lots of motivation heading into the winter months of training. 2012 is going to be a big year and I’m more excited than ever for what lies ahead.
8K Photos
There are less than 2 weeks to go now until Pan Am Games. My “tune-up” race at the Victoria Marathon 8K this past weekend went well. It was great to be a part of such a successful event. There were over 11,000 people running the waterfront on Sunday in either the 8K, half, or full marathon. It was nice to see so many people being active.
Another week of training here in Victoria and then we’re off to Puerto Vallarta!
PanAm Prep
There is just less than three weeks to go until Pan Am Games, my final race of the 2011 season. The preparation so far has gone very well. I had a good rest after returning home from Asia and have seemed to regain form quite quickly. The last 10 days have progressed very nicely.
Given the current temperatures in Puerto Vallarta and what is expected later this month, there will be some quality time spent in the sauna and heat chamber incorporated into this next block of training. Always fun times!
This weekend I will be running the 8k at the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon. It will be a nice tune-up and a good opportunity to test out the legs!
3 worst letters of the alphabet
I’ve just returned from Asia. It was a frustrating couple of weeks to say the least. Earlier this summer I came home from Japan and China with 2 wins. This time around was a different story.
After the race in Beijing I continued on to Yokohama, Japan for the WCS race this past weekend which had been postponed from earlier in the year due to the earthquake/tsunami that occurred in March. Usually I recover quickly between races and I’m able to perform quite well on back to back weekends. Unfortunately this time I struggled to recover and felt quite flat all week. My quest for redemption after the disappointment of flatting in Beijing gave me the motivation to keep plugging away, but come race day I simply had nothing left in the tank.
It’s been a long season and I’ve had some great successes. However, I’ve traveled quite a bit more than normal. I’ll take a few easy days now to let the body recharge before ramping up the training again for my final race of the year which will be the Pan American Games in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on October 23rd. I’m very excited to have a crack at my first Major Games medal!
Unfinished Business
This season was essentially based around 2 races. The first one was the Olympic test event in London and the other one was the World Championship Grand Final in Beijing this past weekend.
Much like London, I had another great start to this race. Everything was going so well. I was in the lead group right out of the water. I road comfortably in the group, feeling strong each time up the hill and staying out of trouble in the wet conditions. Then, on the 5th lap just as we were starting the climb I felt my back tire go soft. I looked down and within seconds it was flat. I couldn’t believe it. I managed to keep riding to the top of the hill, hoping there might be a wheel stop. Unfortunately, I couldn’t have been further away from one as it was at the bottom of the hill on the opposite side of the course. At that point, with no chance of getting a spare, my race was officially done.
Later on back at the hotel our team bike mechanic pulled this staple-like piece of metal out of my tire.
This season has been all about progressions. With each race I’ve gained more confidence and with every training block I’ve gotten stronger. My results have reflected that trend and I was confident that my performance here in Beijing would again trump everything I’d done up until now.
We spent months preparing specifically for this one race and although it’s immensely frustrating, fortunately, I’ll have another opportunity to express my fitness a week from now at the World Championship Series race in Yokohama, Japan.
This is only a small bump in the road in the grand scheme of things. I’ve overcome much worse in the past year. I’ll chalk it up as another character building experience and move on to the next one!
