Glasgow Shenanigans.

The XX Commonwealth Games aren't quite over yet, but we've been home for almost a week already, and so a personal update on my part seems to already be overdue. Back in the training routine, it's hard to believe that not that long ago we were part of one of he biggest sporting events of the year in Glasgow. 

We had the chance to get the full games experience as we arrived in the village a few days before the sporting events started. The village itself is quite interesting. They have basically built a small colony on the edge of the river, complete with food services, laundry, entertainment center and special sections based on your country and your sport. A colony where mostly English speaking super-human with all sorts of athletic abilities roam the streets, sometimes in odd attires, and live in close proximity with each other for a few weeks.In the colony your accreditation is your lifeline, a free pass to mostly everything (even the bar) and you better not lose that baby. Outsiders are frowned upon, although you are allowed to leave the colony if necessary. Wireless is abundant, except in the dining hall, where we were forced to make conversation with those sitting across us rather than those at the other end of the word on screens. How odd. Genius, if you ask me. The first day at the colony felt a little bit like a family reunion as I saw people I hadn't seen in many months (or even years in some cases). 

I found it quite surreal to be talking to other athletes in the village and later than day, they would pop up on TV, in this very professional broadcast of them doing what they do best. Then they would come back to the village and eat dinner like everything was normal. There were even some Wiggins sightings (but I was too busy riding my bike to notice) and several other fast Canadian athletes that I wish I had the courage to go talk to. Wasted opportunity. And now for the races....

July 24th - Individual Triathlon Event

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. 

Picture to break up the text. I'm in there. for a bit. 

I’m “the bad”. I’m the one whose race didn’t go according to plan. I’m the one who got a little caught up in all the shit going in, who got a little distracted, who got a little soft in a moment that mattered too much to afford going soft. And when the bubbles dissipated in front of my face, when I realized the gravity of the situation, it was too late. I rode around the course on my bike, along with some nice South African ladies who also missed the pack, lamenting to myself how much fun it would be to mix it up at the front. After leaving my bike in T2, I had a little chat break with the hefe who gave me some fairly terrible news and told me to get off the course. Easier said than done. I don’t know if the coverage properly conveyed the magnitude of the crowds who came out or the impeccable barricades installed for our race, but finding an opening and a quiet spot to sulk was near impossible. I trudged back to transition, and ended the day with a DNF besides my name. 

Wasted opportunity.

“ The good”? That’s Kirsten of course! After many years of injuries and setbacks and odd happenings she had a lucky break(luck she works hard to have happen), one everyone always knew she could have, and landed herself on the podium with a 2nd place finish after a finely executed race. Quite the excitement! 

And “the ugly",  that’s breaking a collarbone after the second crash of the day. That’s the terrible news I got shortly before dropping out of the race. That’s our third teammate, Ellen, who met a barrier and then the ground a little quicker than she expected. Shit happens. She had a great swim, and was in a great position, but sometimes there are things outside your control that determine your destiny. She’s been a trouper through the entire experience, got some good care from the Canadian doctors and the polyclinic staff in the village, and she’ll be back winning races shortly. She left a big whole on the team and in my heart. The whole on the team, I would have to fill myself on the team relay on Saturday. The one in my heart, it’ll stay there until she’s back training by my side.

Kuddos to the rest of the podium on the day. Jodie and Vicky showed the rest of the english world how it's done, and no one had anything to add (besides Kirsten). Yorke and Bailie on the men's side get race of the day for their 4th and 5th place finishes respectively. 

July 26th. Team Relay Event. 

Team Maple Syrup gets to work 

Kirsten started things off for us and tagged off to Sharpe in first. Great start to the day for Canada eh! Sharpe mastered his leg of the relay and kept it together in the run, even though he hasn't had the easiest time this year with injuries and all. Very proud of my tallest friend. I gave a good effort and managed to hold my position, doing my utmost to not let Emma Jackson get a lead for Australia on that mile run. Andrew brought it home for us in style and once again it came down to a sprint finish with Bailie. The finishing order was reversed, and we nabbed the fourth position. That one didn't sit quite as well with Andrew. Proud of every member of the team for the awesome display of guts and speed. I hope you got to see it, because it was too exciting. We have some room to grow as a team and hopefully the team event becomes an integral part of triathlon one day. 

Sharpe, Kirsten, Me and Yorke. Team Canada. 

The "team" deserves a huge thanks. It goes without saying, JT got us ready to perform on the day, and we were. Drew Marilyn, Dr Patty, Sharleen, Roger, Libby. Medals don’t win themselves, and athletes are no islands. I also got lots of love on the race course, from my parents who made the trip from Canada, my uncle and the fam, Jess, and even a few Aussies who might have cheered for a Canuck or two along the way....Couldn’t thank y’all enough. The volunteers and officials also put on a wonderful show, in the village, at the park and around he city. Scotts are awesome. I knew that already of course, but now that I have more than a couple acquaintances it holds more weight. I'll be back. Oh, and the kiwis. They know how to party. 

Until then, it's time to get ready for the Grand Finale. 

-sarah

Yokohama!

ferris wheels are big in Japan. 

Racing often has its perks. Gaining experience is one of them. Airmiles and airline points another. There’s also those drawstring bags we get every race, I’m gathering quite the collection at the moment.  I’m also racking up the Points, those precious WTS points. Having more Points means I there are higher chances of having a camera shoved in my face as I attempt to avoid looking like a fool while I fumble to organize my transition properly before the race starts. Tattoos are also easier to put on (and take off!). What I wasn’t expecting was how long the wait would be for everyone else to be called down to the pontoon, while I gaze ahead at the empty race course trying to settle the nerves and convince myself I made a great choice with my starting position. This time around, I did make a good choice.

I don’t usually get to many instruction before racing. Saturday, I was told to keep that swim “on the rivet”. And “on the rivet” it was. I sure was glad to round out that last buoy and see that I was in relatively good company for the time being. In excellent company I should say! In fact, maybe our party was a little too popular, as everybody and their mother decided to join our peloton. We didn’t keep the pace high enough for it to remain exclusive, which means most of the field was present at the start of the run. And in my yo-yoing from the kinda front to the dead back to almost the back, I got to visit with most everybody in that pack, even those best to be avoided.

Gwen decided she had enough of the party scene and went off on her own once we stepped onto the pavement. I limited myself to a few close friends, some of which stayed for longer than others, and some of which decided they had enough of me and ran ahead. In the end, I didn’t catch the former steepleling Duck from Belgium on the blue carpet, but did manage to get by one of the Japanese girls (many of which showed up big on home turf, which is always nice to see!)

All in all, I was super-duper pleased with a great swim (by my former and current standards), and a solid run which I was more confident would come this time around. 7^th in the final results, which lets me climb back up to 4^th in the overall series rankings. More awkward waiting-staring time and camera-in-the-face time coming up in London in two weeks…

Shoutout time! Yorke for a best ever 15^th place with an impressive run. Gwen of course for winning. Dave, Sharleen and Marilyn for not only being world class at their jobs, but also awesome people. The wizards (Char, Aaron Ryan) for a good weekend. Thanks Yokohama for putting on a great show, making us feel unorganized, too tall and not respectful enough. You set the standard high Japan!

Until next time, 

-sarah

party of five. 

What I'm Going to Miss

• The beach. Most specifically North Beach. Days like these.

• Leisure Coast Groceries. They found the best way to get lazy people to buy too many vegetables (just grab a bucket!). Which is only a problem when you have to stuff them I a backpack in order to get them all home.

• Massive multi-family tubs of sunscreen at the pool for all to use. Greatest investment in public health in a country where the UV rays are too strong for redheads. 
• Surfers. Surfers in the water, surfers at the beach, surfers running to the beach to surf, surfers biking to the beach to surf. Surfers everywhere. 
• Flat Whites. Diggies on a sunny morning. Or after a group session. 

• Spearman’s and Northside Runners. They all understand “I’m with Jamie” means no compromise. They also play street cricket on Australia day with the triathletes. Great people, great stores.
• Cheap grapes and peaches. And passion fruit and mango. And pumpkin. Not the canned stuff. 
• The pie shop at the top of Jamberoo pass. Familiar sights are comforting on long rides. Especially when they mean a bit of a break for the legs. And the end of the climb. 

• Friday morning Open Water Swim Session. Body-bash session. Sometimes, the two were quite similar. Taste of it here...
• Sunday roast dinner with the eclectic group of people living under one roof at the top of Kembla street.

Most of us are leaving the Gong for the warmer, greener pastures of Vitoria by way of Yokohama. I’m lucky, I’m bringing most of the people I like with me (or rather, I’ m following them). I hate goodbyes, but I plan on coming back someday. In the meantime, life won’t change so much; the environment will be different, but the work and the goals remain the same.

See you on the flip side!

But don't forget to tune in for some fast racing on Saturday, 10AM Japan time! 

Cheers

WTS RACE #1. AUCKLAND.

Unless you've been living in a twitterless, information vortex, you might be aware by now that I finished fourth at the first WTS race of the season in Auckland. To say I am pleasantly surprised would be a bit of an understatement.

Training has been going well, nothing extraordinary, but every week had been getting better slowly but surely. I gained some confidence from winning the Mooloolaba CC and yes, got back to work after that. I also got some new socks. Some nice tall black cycling socks, Aussie style. Sometimes, it's the little things. I landed in Auckland Tuesday night feeling pretty good and looking forward to a few easy days in my favourite country.

So how was it to race the best in the world?

Well, I tried to pretend it was just the same as I had always done, and that it was just another race. And it really was ‘just another race’.

I dove off the pontoon between Routier and Pennock, which gave me a clearish path to the first can. The rest of the swim, I was a little gridlock and bumped around, but not overly concerned by it. 

Once I mounted my trusty stead, I jumped on Jenkins wheel and didn’t let go until I was safely tucked in the pack. The hills were tough, but I was more than ready for the demands of competition. I don’t have much confidence in my run yet, so I was a little worried when Barbara’s pack came back on us, a few laps before the end of the forty kilometres ride.

I ran out of transition like I’d never stopped racing, like I knew exactly what I was doing. I stuck my nose out there, more because I was worried that if I didn’t stay actively involved I would get left behind than for intimidation purposes. The hardest thing about that run was to ignore the names on the suits around me. Well, running was hard too. I could smell the podium with a few kilometres to go, but those ladies were too good for me on the day. Haug (GER) and Jenkins (GB) ran away from me on the last lap, and that was all I had that day. Since we had caught the two kiwis from the breakaway, that left Stimpson at the front, and me in fourth.

I owe the Wollongong Wizards, my beloved teammates, for showing up ‘errday  and pushing me to be the best ‘me’ I can be, by being the best they can be.

I owe Jamie Turner a lot. Mostly, a new stroke and an attitude.

I owe Libby and Triathlon Canada for the opportunity.

pics by Delly Carr....pretty cool running buddies!

I hope you enjoyed the show on the weekend, here’s to some more good days out there in 2014!

results and 3 minute video recap fort those interested...

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Quick takes from Mooloolaba CC:

• Sometimes, we travel to races and everything seems to come together. The accommodations are great, the people are funny and interesting and thoughtful, the logistics flow and things go according to plan. Last weekend was one of those trips. TriCan has something to do with that. Thanks.
• Mooloolaba is a stunning location for a race. Or a vacation. I encourage you to go if you ever get the chance. Or just make that chance happen.
•  Triathlons are exciting. I got to watch the big girl’s race on Saturday and there are some speedsters out there! Pretty excited to have a go at it myself sometime soon, but we’re taking it one step at a time.
• I’ve "updated" my swim stroke, cycled heaps, just gotten back into a constant running schedule. THAT is why I didn’t race the WC, for all those asking. One step at a time.
• Golly, it feels good to put my arms up in the air. Again.
•  I am fully aware I’ll have some bigger fish to fry soon. But I showed up on Sunday (too early, but what can you do) ready to get the job done. I found a few things that may need tweaking, so I’ll be working on that.
• Ellen and I can pack my bike in 10 minutes. Biggest accomplishment of the weekend. Also, my fastest drug test ever, even though the volunteers refused to give me water cups on the run course because we were only allowed water bottles at the one water station which stocked them. They train them well.
• Coming back to Wollongong felt like coming “home”. That’s a good sign.
• To finish up, huge shout out to my teammates/training partners/friends. Gwen for winning, Ellen for a huge run to nab 4^th place,  Kirsten for a stellar swim and a 7th overall, Brian Keane for best dressed, and New Jake for winning the men’s side of things on Sunday morning.

-         

                                          - Did you get New Jake
                                                    - Me: I don't know, someone got champagne in my eyes
                                                     - New Jake: Yeah, someone got champagne in my eyes too. 

Results Here: Mooloolaba Triathlon Oceania Cup 2014

Who 

Ellen-Matt-Andrew-Sarah
Canucks at North Beach

– me. (sarah-anne) I’m part of a group of young Canadian triathletes, the new generation they might say. There’s also a slew of Aussies who know what’s up, a couple fast Americans, a go-proing Hungarian, a South African,  and a slight Chilean who likes to make fun of me.  We form a “group of individuals” working together towards a goal. This group is also known as the Wollongong Wizards (although I have yet to be officially inducted or get tatted up)

What  

-Training. Training. Training. Learning about myself, and life, and triathlon. If you've seen me over the past few months, you probably thought my training was quite relaxed, that being a triathlete seemed like a sweet pastime. I got to see friends, family, a little bit of British Columbia, meet some cool  people, and then see more family. But that time is over now. Not that it wasn't enjoyable, but time off implies that there needs to be some `time on`, and this is it. Time to get to work, to go after the process that will deliver performance. So don’t get married in the winter or the summer, I’m not coming (unless you get married in Spain, then we could maybe work something out…). Fall weddings FTW.

hanging out at coopers with the mommies over break.
No more free afternoons now.
except for Sundays, 

Where

 –Australia. Mostly Wollongong (google it), a little bit of Falls creek, although that part is now over, before we launch for Europe, and ultimately Edmonton for the World Championships (upon qualification, of course) But for now, we’ll be rooted in Wollongong, which is a university beach town south of Sydney. Yeah, life could be worst.

When 

– I missed the countdown on the East Coast by a few hours. I caught the 12 bangs of midnight in Vancouver, sitting on the runway waiting for the interminable international flight to take off. That’s when it started. But realistically, I've been prepping for a while. Ever since I got back from my last adventure. Shout out to the parents for helping with the last prep before take off.

Why

 – The relentless pursuit of excellence. Racing the best in the world on the ITU circuit. Winning. 

I feel like I ran away a little bit, when I talk to people and they aren’t sure where in the world is Sarah-Anne Brault. I guess it's hard to keep up at times. I hope this little guide helps. I’m also hoping I can get some more updates up, about life, triathlon, maybe some racing stories. But we'll take life one days at a time, one session at a time. It makes it all that much sweeter if I can share it with y'all. 

Thanks for reading,

Until next time.

Summer Time. Highs and Lows.

Hello dedicated readers, and thank you for tuning in,

It’s been a while, but let’s not dwell on the past shall we!  Although, before we forget it all, I’ll do a quick summary of what I've done with my time over the past few months.

•  I graduated from West Virginia University with a BS in Finance for the College of Business and Economics. My parents, brothers and favorite aunt drove down for the occasion and I got to show them around town. (Big Up, I still enjoy telling people I graduated, so don’t hesitate to ask me when you see me).

  

  Steph A and I at the B&E Convocation

•  I failed to qualify for Nationals Track by racing foolishly at Regionals, and just not being fast enough on the day. (big low, don’t mention that)
• I left all my friends and family in Morgantown. forever. (big low)

  

  Part of The Team. Miss them already

•  I saw all my Winnipeg friends and got to see coach Pallett who is on track to lose a whole Tyler pretty soon, is a proud grandpa, and is doing a great job with the juniors up in frozenland. (big up)
•   I got to fly to Victoria to train for a while and meet the awesome IST (integrated support team) team which will be with us until Rio. Very excited to be working with all those passionate and professional people! (big up)
• Had the chance to race the world cup in Edmonton with all my friends. (so-so results, great experience) Welcome back to ITU racing Sarah.
  
•   Travelled to Brazil without my trusty companion who happened to crash in Edmonton (Big low - heal quick tyler)
•    Raced PATCO championships on Sunday. Got 2^nd in the race (results here), which was won in impressive fashion by Pamela Oliveria soloing from the front. I tried to limit the damage to the best of my abilities but I, let’s say, ran out of road to run her down. All in all, very pleased about with that result. I’ll be facing much stronger field in the near future but it’s a good start and it’s always a good feeling when I can execute the plan.(Big Up!)

As you can tell, this is a very much abbreviated summary, and if have any questions/comments regarding any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me. Maybe one day I’ll write more about my races, or my travels, or all the interesting junior kids, or rather young adults, I got to spend the last week with in Brazil.And I have no doubt the next few months will bring their fair share of adventures that I can share with all my readers…

Until next time,

-sarah

Triathlon as an NCAA sport. maybe.

“USA Triathlon has an interest in training the next generation for the Olympics. The NCAA has an interest in student-athlete well-being and education. This sport is a perfect blend”  Marymount Athletics Director Debbie Warren

I couldn’t decide what to think when I say the article on adding triathlon to the NCAA list of championship sports in the near future. So I organized my thoughts, then wrote a blog about it. There are still a lot of questions, and no doubt it will take a few years, at the very least, to get programs rolling and attract talent to foster high level competition. My question is, can we train the next generation of Olympians through the NCAA system?

I’ve lived the NCAA reality for 4 years now, and I had my first taste of what triathlon racing at the highest level is all about over the last few months. (it’s ridiculously challenging but utterly addicting). I’ve experienced the sheer amount of rules rules imposed on athletes in order to be eligible in the NCAA. Totally ridiculous. No rides from the coach, wear team gear at all times, can’t tweet about anything, minimum credit hours every semester, progress towards your degree, etc.The one that might be a problem in this case is the 20 hour rule. 20 hour training week. 8 hours in the off season. That’s not very much. Half of what Frodeno does, maybe?. Also, even if there were no 20-hour rule, how many hours can you fit in around 12 or 15 credits worth of classes a semester? I tried to be a full time student and a triathlete for about 3 weeks last December (yes, that is during exam time, good timing sarah). I ended up in tears in the middle of the living room one day. Not good.

Looks like they are aiming at a sprint distance, draft-legal format. That would accommodate a lighter training load, and allow the sport to be accessible to more athletes, as all the junior racers would stay at the same distance for an extra 3 years. Let’s look at who’s winning the Olympics. Spirig, Norden, Snowsill, even Brownlee² and Gomez. Mostly endurance beasts. Endurance is built with miles. Miles take time. It’s not going to be an easy balance. To stay eligible, you can’t just take a semester off, go train at altitude for a while and travel all around the world for races. Oh, but you won’t need to because you’ll have quality races around the country to race for your school! For a few years, the level just might not be quite high enough. Let’s say we reach about the level of a solid North American continental cup. Decent swimmers, a few fast runners, and a fairly unexciting bike leg. That’s all good, but it’s nothing compared to what you’re up against you reach the big leagues; a mid-level world cup or the WTS circuit. Is 4 years of mediocre competition a good way to built future Olympic champions? Then lets have the NCAA season be sometime in the spring, which would allow all the north American athletes to have their regular ITU season during the summer, even race worlds in the early fall, and go back to school to do base training, maybe complemented by racing cross country for their school. The only hitch will be finding a way around the 8 hour rule, which is done regularly, but will require a lot of smart planning from everybody involved. Easier said than done.

On the positive side, college campuses are where all the best runners and swimmers can be found in America, racing a lot but also training hard. If triathletes can take advantage of that, maybe coaches working together with an emphasis on a long term plan, those alliances can turn into gold (medals). College Campuses also tend to be in small towns, pretty areas with some trails for running and some country roads. It might not be Wanaka, but most colleges would be conducive to logging lots of quality miles.

The one thing I got me the most excited about the idea of NCAA triathlon is the team aspect of it. Even track and swimming manage to add a strong team component to their championships, and with the push for the team relay in Rio, what better stage to not only practice the short relay races but also include team tactics in the standard distance race. Every Olympics, there is talk about how team tactics are going to help win medals, and then we don’t hear about them again for 4 years. Practice makes perfect, tactics are going to work if we practice implementing them early. I owe one medal at least partially to team tactics; it adds another dimension to the race and is a whole lot of fun. (maybe less so if you’re on the wrong team...).

I think it would be good for the sport as a whole if this goes through, if they get enough schools to sign and get the support staff in place. Extra exposure for the sport, opportunity for juniors to keep triathlon as a part of their lives and development opportunities. bigger base tends to lead to better results at the top. But there are still a lot of kinks to work out, and the NCAA route might never be the best road for those aiming for those ITU mdeals. My two words on the issue, that’s it, nothing to take too seriously. Now I can go back to calculating cash flows and cheering for our mountaineer football  team...

Until later,

whats a blog without pictures? Go WVU and the yellow house crew. 

Sarah-Anne

Red Rock Country

I wrote this one a while back. seems to have gotten lost in transit somewhere over the Atlantic....

It was a little bit of an odd group. Some juniors, some U23, some older kids, some that haven’t quite grown up yet, most in school, although some were taking breaks and some were on strike. From Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the odd Bajan. City kids, country folks, Frenchies; swimmers and runners turned Triathletes.

All these fine folks came together under the blazing Arizona sun, looking for some solid training amidst the cactuses and the garbage-eating javalinas.

I made a little pit stop in between a couple WTS races, caught up on the gossip, formed new alliances, put in a few solid miles and worked on my bathing suit tan, which has been neglected since my time in Barbados.

A few tips if you ever run into one of them at the races…

Domi is an absolute beast on the descents, even if it’s only warm-up. Tristan is a country boy. Whatever D-quick threw at him from Stevie’s Ipod, he could sing along. To be fair, Stevie knew all the worlds as well, but that’s old news. Gabby knows her way around the track, I heard she’s got wheels (didn’t get to join in the track fun). Things would have gone to the dogs without Mama D. She’s got this uncanny gift of organizing things and planning without being bossy or getting people irritated. I don’t understand.  Unger has no real concept of what ‘pacing’ means. But you know what, he means well. And he just won Thief River Falls for the 4^th time in a row. Kudos. You might not know Tyler B, he’s rather quiet. But if you ever get the chance, join him for a ride or something; he’s pretty cool even for a middle kid. And he fixed the ice maker (sorta, we ended up with ice is what matters) . Derek Quick and Tristan are now ready to cause some serious havoc in Quebec bars, with pickup lines and swears taught by Manon and Jo. Thanks girls. Zander hasn’t quit yet, which is very fortunate since he’s the comic relief. If you need a nickname, he’ll hook you up real quick. Apparently You can’t trust Jason with your chicken, unless you want some charcoaled dinner. Leave the grilling to Domi or Riley M instead, they’re unbeatable. Rachel seemed to eat up books, I didn’t know you could read that much AND get some serious training in during the day. And throw in the occasional Make it or Break it episode, just to balance things out. I got stuck in a room with the all the frenchie, and some of them (such as Manon and Joanna) would dance with the pillows before sleep. Weirdos.

Sadly, my team lost the IM relay on Amelie’s 19^th birthday, but we had the highest cumulative VO2 max and we had to go against team #1 who had Tyler x2. Not fair. If only the race was on the track…

 Huge thanks to Craig for organizing the whole thing, and to RossAnn for the coaching on-site. And thanks to everyone for the awesome week, even though I wasn’t on the same plan and I decided to arrive late and leave early. All in all, I predict we’ll see some pretty good things from young Canadians this summer.And it’s only the beginning…

Non-Interactive Guide to Ishigaki for non-residents

For those of you out there who have not yet had the chance to visit one of Japan’s most southernest island, here is a little guide to help with your future trip, in order to avoid embarrassing situations or intense cultural shock. Bear in mind that this guide relates to the Island of Ishigaki, as rumors are that the rest of Japan is quite different and therefore the principles described below may not be applicable.

GREETINGS

 Avoid waiving enthusiastically at strangers or acquaintances. Chances are they will respond with a head nod and you will look like a doofus with too much energy. Also, when meeting new people, ensure that you truly pay attention to their appearance. Asians have fewer distinguishing features than Caucasians and in case you come across that person again, it may be hard to know remember you actually have talked to them before. Things are usually smaller in size, a bit like in Ahna’s house. However, as long as you are comfortable feeling a bit like a giant, there should be no problem.

TOILETS

 A key part of the Japanese experience, the toilets can cause a shock if the non-resident is not previously warned. If one is lucky, he will come across the all-inclusive toilet; featuring butt-washing features as well as a button that looks like the toilet is set to play music. However, outside those high-end comforts, the racing traveler might encounter porta-potties without seats. After staring at the hole for long enough, most westerners figured out how to use these interesting commodities. (we hope they do anyways)

FOOD

Before venturing into the local grocery store, it is probably best to be accompanied by a local translator who can explain what the hell it is you are buying. If no such person is available, fruits and vegetable usually look similar to what we can find in normal countries. Breakfast foods will be the hardest to locate (our correspondent had an interesting experience with oatmeal), and there will be some risks involved as to whether or not you are buying what you think you are buying. What looks like chocolate milk is most likely gross coffee-flavored cold liquid and the variety available at the fish counter is quite mind-boggling. Goya (also known as the Bubbly Cucumber) is best avoided, unless sought for its vitamin benefits over its bitter taste, but the island-grown pineapples are a must.

TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF

Just do it. House, hotel room, etc. Just take em off.

SLEEPING SITUATION

If you walk into the apartment where you will be staying for a week, and it is rather small, but there is not a bed in sight, do not panic. Beds are most likely stored away in the nearest closet and only come out at night. Here, the term ‘bed’ is used rather loosely, and might be closer to our definition of “camping in the living room” than of typical indoor sleeping arrangements.

GARBAGE SITUATION

When in doubt, you are probably looking for the “burnable” bin. If not, rubbish might go into the recyclable bin, the non-burnable bin, the glass bin, the cans bin, or if all else fails, the compost bag. This is all rather confusing. The complexity of the rubbish situation is probably the main reason why public garbage cans are a rare occurrence and one might be forced to walk for miles to dispose of their candy wrappers. Or find candy wrappers in every single one of their pockets in every single one of their pants/shorts/jackets when doing laundry.

THINGS TO DO

Refer to local tourist guide. The correspondent has not done very much. The triathlon world Cup event is a recommended stop, as it is well organized, with friendly volunteers and is guaranteed to start on time. Riding around the island is also recommended, but plan extra time to stop for coffee and beach pictures, especially when riding with a notoriously easy going Columbian who might miss his flight if he stops again.

That's all for today folks! I'll try harder to take pictures, and I'll go back to being productive and writting my final paper on american ecnomic history.

Life Amongst the Sheep

After being “home” for a few weeks, the winds blew westward. That’s how I ended up on top of a mountain in New Zealand’s south Island. My uncle travels a lot and his two favorite spots are probably Barbados and NZ. I’ve managed to hit up both in the span of a few months. Gold star for me.

So what’s it like here? Training camp life. Train, eat, sleep, make new friends and try to get a few minutes of spotty internet connection from time to time.

Honestly, it’s been great. Wanaka itself consist of a few blocks of little shops and café by the (cold) lake. The roads surrounding Wanaka lend themselves quite well to hour upon hour of quality riding. And the running trails…oh the running trails….

The company is top notch. Some crazy people out there, but as long as they channel it the right way, then they become winners. That’s my theory anyways. Lots of learning going on. Lots of little things to work on, things to tweak, a never ending process. Process process process…

Tea and crosswords in the morning remind me of home. Although NZ crosswords are different, they have more black squares. Adaptation necessary.

Just finishing up this block of training here before our little group is off to Sydney, Australia, to take on the rest of the world in an epic battle on the blue carpets in front of the opera house. Stay tuned.

Your friend the Mountaineer

Home #2

Home

I got to go home last week.
Well, one of my homes.

I had to redefine that concept a few years back

Home was Winnipeg, where I grew up, with my parents and my friends and my coaches and people who cared, with the places I kept going back to. Familiarity.

Then I went to school. Home was still home and school was school.

Then my parents moved and all of a sudden, I had a home where I didn’t have a house and I had a house that didn’t qualify as home.

And at the same time, school became that place where I had friends and coaches and people who cared, with the places I kept going back to.

Sounds awfully like home to me.
So what now?

I keep it simple. In my mind, I have three homes. I don’t believe in discrimination.

Thanks for everyone in my Motown home for a great couple weeks. Not a single solo run, Black Bear evenings and Zenclay mornings. Shout out to all the peeps at Friday breakfast, that freshman year tradition that keeps on givin’. And I picked the best Saturday to go home, Beat Feast for the win. Got to hang out with the girls, remember how it feels to take a test a stress out about a paper. Ride the Percy and of course, not start packing till way too late because the conversation at Mountain State is too good. And Schiff and lil’ Sean had to get the s’mores dessert pizza, of course.

hey there...

Long time no post

I raced today, national championships...kinda of a big deal i guess. Ended up 6th. solid race. Got to stand on the podium with Paula and Kirsten. Sweet deal. Sweet race. sweet people.

Great posting again. See you in 6 months.

Gandalf



tonight, i was gandalf at dinner.

The Tempo Loop

There's this place in Morgantown called the "Tempo Loop". All the college runners know exactly where it is. Somewhere in Suncrest, a nice jumble of random streets make up a loop about a mile a a half long. How it came to be exactly the way it is today, no one really knows (alright, Sean probably had a bit part to play in it). The veterans talk of a time when the tempo loop was quite a bit longer, spilling into Universtiy Av, which could be dangerous when workouts where held at the high time of Morgantown rush hour traffic. As the name sugests, it is mostly used for tempos, although it can also accomodate fartlkets or road intervals. Needless to say, it is use a lot. There comes a time in every West Virginia girl's running carreer where she might realize she knows pretty much every crack in the road, every corner angle (urban designers around here dispise clear cut 90 degree intersections) and every incline, down or up, she might encounter.

Sometimes we go fast on it, sometimes its more of a controlled workout. Saturday it was controlled. But it also happened to go fast.

Best Average Ever. 5:39 per mile. big thanks to Jess O and her crazy arms for bringing that last mile down.

Looks like a good season ahead...

Highlights

I realize why people blog more during race season: not much happens at other times of the year. Everyone trains, but thats not hardly interesting enough for the rest of the world to read. However, I will ignore that fact and post an update on my life anyways.

#1. Charlie is still alive. In case anyone was worried, it's been proven that I can take care of 1 goldfish for a few weeks without him dying on me. We're planning on investing in fish food soon. Big commitment.

#2. Everyone is running great. We do track workouts during cross season sometimes, so it's easy to see how everyone is progressing. We had one Tuesday, and the fast group was fast. We're putting it all on the line next Friday, at the Penn state meet. That's when we'll know how good we are. Also, Tad took some sweet pictures of the last race which can be found here.

#3. The crazy midterm stuff at school is almost over. This is now the period of in-between-ness when I can relax a bit. And update my blog. And call home.

#4. Gatherings at the house tend to turn into dress-up dance parties. It seems to be quite inevitable. But yesterday this came through as well, thanks to freshie Sarah M.



wicked. Why not use the talents you have eh....

Awesome

I made it on Flotrack. My life is now complete.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

He doesn't believe me, but it's true we haven't talked about nationals much. It's true. Also, there's a video of the race. Funny part at 1:20.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

The whole experience was really cool. It's quite somethin;, the entire day, they had races going with over 300 runners in each, and it seamed to never stop. Who knew so many people even ran in the states. I thought people were supposed to play video games and eat junk food. For West Virginia, the whole team ran great, and we ended up winning the race. Congrats to Guelf to who came second, there were some good teams out there. From what I know anyways. (I don't know much).

Well, I have to go do my life in homework now.

Until later,

Take #423

I lost count of how many times I've tried to do this already. But didn't someone say "It doesn't matter how many times you fall, it's how many times you get up". Or something like that anyways.

I feel like a runner now. I guess thats what happens when you run a lot. So we'll see if feeling like a runner makes me run like one too.


We're leaving for Paul Short on Friday, and last time I checked with the coach I was racing. Shoul be fun :-) Most of the team is racing, either the college race or the JV open version.


On another note, we have a new roomate at the house. Everyone welcomed Charlie home this Saturday. We all hope he doesn't die.

A Race and some more stuff

First off i want to say that i tried really hard to write a post last week but I was unsuccesful in my attempt. Josh decided it wouldnt't be. But we are now in between training sessions in Rigaud and I have no excuse not to update a few people on my status. The Auberge where we are staying is great, kind of in the country, with a sweet breakfast every day! The roads around the place are a bit bumpy but we'll see if we can find some nice hills to ride later today. And the High school pool we're swimming at has crazy currents...makes for interesting intervals.

Well, i cant ignore it too much, I have to say that i raced last week-end in Coteau-du-Lac. The organising comitee did a great job, everything went smootly as planned (for the race anyways, not for me). I'm not sure what to say about the race. The swim was fine. Good i would say. Then the first half of the bike was fine. Then i got dropped and nothing was fine anymore. People don't get dropped on flat courses. It just doesn't happened. Very depressing. Thats pretty much all I have to say about the race.

On another note, this week reminded me of other important things in life. Like friends and family. One thing is for sure, I had the best cheering sqad at the race site! Simon and Michael came with Anne et Sylvain, Sylvain's sister brought the entire family (Jeremy et Justine) et les 2 couples de grand-parents sont egalement venus pour l'apres-midi! On dirait que tout ce beau monde s'est bien amuser et les encouragements on beaucoup aide! Apres la course on s'est tous diriges vers un restaurant grec ou je me suis tres rapidement rappeler comment c'est um...diferent....la vie avec des jeunes qui n'arrete pas de bouger. Et Sophie et Francois nous on rejoints avec la petite Marie-Odile (qui est un peu moins petite et qui mange beacoup), ce qui etait un bien belle surprise. Et pour ce qui est des amis, on a eu petit party chez Julie le soir avant que je parte et pour l'avoir organiser la journee meme, on a eu un montant impressionant de gens qui sont venus! Notre jeu de poche a demontre que c'est toujours bien de sortir quand on est au top, et que les bacceux resteront toujours de bacceux (ok guys, on essaye de faire 520 avec les poches qu'on rentre. On a le droit aux multiplication, division, soustraction et addition. et pas de calculatrice...). En fin de compte, une bien belle soire ou la seule partie plate a ete le temps de dire aurevoir a Kateri que je ne vais pas revoir avant Noel parce que la chanceuse s'en va trois semaine en France...

C'est tout pour l'instant,
a bientot

Sarah

So I have a lot more respect for the people who blog regularly now. I don't know how they do it, most likely its superhuman skills that allow them to think of something interesting to write about their lives and then actually get around to writting about it. And I, as a mere mortal, am having a lot of trouble keeping up with the times. But following the exemple of Stevie and Riley, who have been dutifuly updating the new MNTC blog, I am back on the wagon. For now.

Unfortunatly, (isn't unfortunalty such a wonderful word? so classy when you really have to excuse) too much stuff has happened this year for me to update you readers on truly everything. So I'll just pretend nothing happened and that all I have to update you on is this past week. Maybe one day I'll write a novel explaining my whole freshman year. But right now I'm back home in wonderful winnipeg and back to being a full time triathlete (which I quite enjoy, can't lie about that). And since there is no better way to remind myself of the infinite joys of triathlon then to go right ahead and race one, thats what I did. And, lucky me, the whole country decided to come have fun with me in freezing Birds Hill park. But I can't say it wasn't a good time, and everyone went home with all their toes (I think).

And then this week it was time to get back to work with some intense cycling. As Josh pointed out, I was basicly trying to fit 17 days of Tucson training camp into 2 days in Winnipeg (Gary and Daryl's masterplan here). It turned out all right, with two tire changes and one sore butt. Some swimming and running to go along with that and we were set for a solid week. And also a trip to the hospital and a bunch of Advils...triathlon is risky business sometimes :-) But I forgot my worries for a bit and watched the NCAA on the computer/TV where Clara Grant (she's on my team!) ran an awesome race to get 4th in the 10km! Also my man German, in a pre-like fashion, imposed total domination in the 1500.

thats it for now
Sarah