Less Wise?

The wisdom teeth came out yesterday. Does this make me less wise?
Seriously though, I had three taken out, and in spite of a frozen face for a few hours there was literally no pain. This was the third time I have been in to see (fellow triathlete) Dr. Derek Hopkins and every time I walk out going "that didn't hurt at all".
In fact, I was on deck coaching a swim 3 hours after they were pulled. The only negative is I have been ordered to take the day off of training. One whole day!
Thanks Derek and all the gang at the office.

Training on Simmer!

I have been posting a lot of stuff non sport related so I thought it was time to let you all know what is up in my triathlon life. Human Powered Racing is starting it's 4th full season here in Victoria. Once again the team is fantastic and I look forward to another year of training with, and coaching this extremely talented, motivated group of athletes.

I have no other real objective other than getting the fittest I have ever been and racing faster than I ever have before in Kona! The first step is to get qualified. I was hoping to get down to New Zealand and get my spot early, but I am still waiting to hear from them on that one. In the meantime, I have two camps planned with HPR. One in Kona in February and then another in Tucson in March. If New Zealand happens between the two, perfect! If not, I will be extremely fit for an Ironman somewhere in the spring. As soon as I know where I am racing I will post it here.

In the meantime, I am back swimming with the NTC here in Victoria and working hard to get a couple minutes off of my swim time; the real key to my next Ironman.

Tomorrow, I am in to get the wisdom teeth out so that will probably mean meals through a straw and a couple days off of training. Can't wait!

Great Ad!

Off Season Training - Paintball

Long Way Down

If you get a chance, check out this program.
Long Way Round was a great show (and book) and this matches it. Makes me want to travel every time.

Bon Mots

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.
J.K Rowling

This quote was from Roy MacGregor's piece in the Globe and Mail today. The article; "The Fs in my past stand for first-rate life lessons", is a great one and well worth searching out.

HPR 2008

Looking Back On Another Great Year!

HPR 2009 Begins

Human Powered Racing officially kicked off the 2009 season this past weekend. As tradition demands we began the new year of training Friday evening with our 3rd annual beer mile (there are pictures of this, but I am not sure if the party's involved want me posting them here). Ben Cotter was back to defend his title as was the Cardigan bonger Heather Whittall. Unfortunately my achilles is still not up to hard running so I had to sit this one out. The challengers on this day were many including our two newly crowned champions Allan Boos (the boozer) and Krista Powell (the radical).

Saturday was a nice leisurely ride out to Sidney and back. This was a chance to blow out the cobwebs for those that took part in the beer mile festivities the night before. We lucked out with only a sprinkling of rain after a week of one solid downpour. It felt great to be back out with the team again after a lot of solo riding the month before Kona and then a month off.

Today we did a great hike out at Goldstream park. We normally hike up to the top of Mt. Finlayson as one of our first workouts, but this year the clouds were very thick and the trip would have been a bit treacherous so we decided to head over to the other side of the Malahat and hike up to the old train tracks. THe daring even went out on the tressels. You can't see it from the pictures, but there is one major drop out there.

Next years season is on the horizon and my season may be starting sooner rather than later. More to come....

It's A New Day

President-Elect Barack Obama

HOME!

Michael and Erin Brewer

This past weekend Rachel and I were in Columbus, Ohio for the wedding reception of great friends and HPR team mates Michael and Erin Brewer. We had a great time but it was a whirlwind trip and we are both happy to be back home with no more trips (flights at least) until February. I seemed to have picked up some sort of bug on one of the 4 flights in the past week, so my desire to get training again has been stalled, which might not be a bad thing.

On the injury front, I did get a couple of runs in while I was in Ohio, but the achilles is still sore and I am getting it worked on agressively. Attila, my massage therapist, has also told me it would probably not be a good idea to try and win back my beer mile title this Friday. Very unfortunate!

I am currently in the process of planning my 2009 season and I will post it here as soon as soon as I can.