Tucson Training Camp

The past 8 days I have had the pleasure of training in Tucson Arizona.  This place is a piece of cycling heaven.  Our bike team, Project Freeride, had 12 members (9 guys, 3 women - who SAVED the 9 guys!) attend and we had an estate on the peak of Trails End by Gates Pass.   

highlights include:

- 9 days of solid riding for over 1,000kms

- The Shootout, google it, a solid ride.  The Canadian Olympic tri team was in town and I soon realized I was riding beside Simon Whitfield, Kathy Tremblay, Lauren Groves, Kyle Jones and Samantha McGlone.  Not a bad line up!

- Catching up with Nat Faulkner at the start of the shootout (aka, Dreamcrusher) google him as well, pretty neat story.

- Riding the front of the Shootout at 450 watts - felt good to be back into swing of biking HARD!

- Mt. Lemmon, 22 miles and 8,000 feet elevation in 1:45 averaging 269 watts.  I blew up around 9 miles and 5,500 feet but carried on all be it VERY painfully.

- 160km ride around Tucson with the boys.  

- Mt. Lemmon #2: 1 hour up at 280 watts attacking at the spot I cracked 3 days previous.  Made it to 11.5 miles and 6,500 feet elevation at my self imposed 1 hour time limit.  NICE way to end the camp.

- MECHANICALS! The team had 3 broken spokes and about a dozen flats.  Otherwise, we faired very well thanks to Ralph and his team at Fair Wheel bikes.  A GREAT local bike store.

And most of all, the team.  A great group of guys I joined this year.  Train hard, like their wines, and share great laughs.  A superb dynamic!  Thanks crew.

What's next?  10 day mini-run boot camp in prep for Boston Marathon April 20th.  

The Pain part cometh!

To my friends and family, you are amazing!  Thanks for the support to date, you humble me again.

Training:

I finally had a valuable week of training after a few weeks shorted by my recurring foot injury.  Swimming is still taking a major back seat to cycling and running because; a) Boston Marathon is around the corner, and b) I don't much like swimming!  This said, I did do a 1500M test last month and came in on 21:19 so I am in maintenance mode just fine there.

I logged 14.5hrs for the week which is right on target for early March.  Most importantly I passed my early run test found here. I am excited how the pacing went given the 3400ft of uphill running.  I also got outside on my new bike!! for a 4.5 hour cruise that ended with a downpour and frozen bits all over.  COLD still! I can tell this bike will fly but I am still tweaking the position a bit.  Been 3 years since I changed road bikes so it takes some tweaking.

Meredith is away on vacation with her mom, some cruise to the Caribbean or something?  GOOD ON HER!  So, I am busy being busy but I don't know what to do to be busy-:)

Another great week ahead, then a weeks recovery before bike team camp in Tucson.  

Thanks for reading and please share this blog with ANYONE who cares about kids and cancer!

Where there is pain there is purpose - I am adding the Boston Marathon to the cause!

First, I wish to thank the many who have already contributed to the race 4 kids Ironman Lake Placid charity drive for pediatric cancer care in Ontario. I am humbled every day by the e-mails and notes we share and your commitment and faith in me is incredibly flattering. As far as training, we are progressing, but I have added a little wrinkle to up the ante a bit.

April 20th, 2009 I will toe the line for the 113th edition of the Boston Marathon. 26.2 miles through the streets of America's Irish homeland. I will raise a Guiness to all at the end in salute to my celtic mates to the north! It is not a smart idea to race such a marathon 90 days out from an Ironman, not even the elites do something this stupid, but that is not the point to my season. My season is not about performance, winning, crushing personal bests; its about kids with cancer fighting for their lives. Back me on this one, together we can change the future of these kids by donating here, safely and securely.

So, where there is pain there is purpose, and I am adding some pain spice to the suitcase of courage.