Brazil FAST Triathlon

In mid January I will be traveling to Brazil (location unknown) to rip it up with Matt Vierula and AP Baillargeon-Smith in a super sprint Race series! Go us! and go girls team! (not officially announced yet)

Worlds race rundown

So. Back in Ol' Vic now and settling into the swing of things with school and whatnot. My mom was gracious enough to come and cook for me and make my first few classes easy, getting errands off the checklist and so here I am.

The Race.
Our support staff was beyond incredible and so i got to the start line feeling like i was about to hop in the water for a workout. With two different transitions it made for some interesting pre race staging. Start list of 80(i think) and i was # 43 putting me dead centre on the pontoon. Everyone gets called down aaaaaaannnddd AIRHORN. 14 degree water gives you an adrenaline rush on top of your adrenaline rush and your off. The roughest toughest baddest raddest start of my life, i was dunked and kicked and pushed and my clear water escaped me until the first buoy at 300M. I'm used to getting free at about 150m so this made my brain go gaaahvldfjhvcljhvfcljahvlhjqgrrrrrrrrr. end up getting clear and chasing down the leader, the south african beats me out ( i think he got clear water early maybe i hope haha ) and it's go go go to T1. onto the bike feeling the rush and we head out onto the 5km stretch before the loops and T2. I was hoping for some more segregation between packs but with the wetsuit swim we were looking at about a 37 man lead pack if i'm not mistaken. sitting in was easy but risky, stayed near the front for the most part, took some pulls. The hard part about the riding though was jockeying into position for each corner. this was crucial because it was packed and sketchy. Through the chicane section on numerous accounts i was pushed onto my inside guys bars while cornering as the guy on my outside leaned on me. crazy. Stop go style ride and the stretch heading into T2 was scary. 12 guys wide it seemed like, and i ended up near the back. off onto the run and the first 1.5km felt terrible legs were just tanked from the ride and the swim and so i headed off trying to keep the tempo up. "this is worlds, this is it, go for it" and so i got out of the funk and picked it back up. running along the cobbles with everyone going nuts was awesome and it gave me a bit of a pick up. I got passed mostly in that first 1.5km and managed to fight some spots back came through in 21st. Not what i had hoped for but it was all i could have done on the day so I walk away happy.

Now it's school school school and gettin into the groove. Training starts back up on the 4th of October and I'm lookin forward to it!

Thanks for all the support from my parents, coaches (PK Carolyn), Sponsors, supporters and friends. The season was all i could have asked for and i'm stoked for my next season debut in Olympic distance U23

BUDAPEST

I'm here after an exhausting flight. settled down in this new land and will be going to bed soon, wake up in the morn adjusted to the 9 hour time change after staying up for an uncomfortable period of time. grocery stores are different to the likeness of mexican ones, need to hit up the downtown core for SIM card, swim and race prep. It set in that i'm in Europe and i'm ready to crush, but after i get some sleep first.
C

Worlds Team

I made it. I'm happy that all the work and time I put in this year has paid off and I will be able to represent Canada in Budapest, Hungary on September 12th. Thank you to all who have supported me ( mom, dad, PK, Carolyn, Leonard Hill, Anthony King, my training squad, the list goes on). Thanks to my competitors for the battle! Looking forward to another good Kelowna nationals and then to crush worlds.

p.s. congrats to paula in Kitzbuhel!

C

opportunity awaits!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010

Junior Training Weekend - August 28-29

The PTC Vancouver invites athletes ages 14-19 who have an interest in junior triathlon racing to a training camp/weekend open house on August 28-29.

Meet current PTC members and coach Mark Bates, learn about aspects of junior racing such as race tactics, open water swimming, bike drafting, transitions and more.

Saturday August 28
9:00-2:00 UBC Aquatic Centre
Swim, Bike, Transitions, Classroom session

Sunday August 29
9:00-2:00 Sasamat Lake
Swim, Entries/Exits, Run, Talk, Mini-Aquathlon races

Cost: $25

Contact Mark (email - mark "at" 321coaching "dot" com or  604-787-2715)  to register and for more information. As the schedule may change, athletes MUST pre-register.

******************************************************

I owe so much of my success to my coaches and Mark Bates has been one of the best I've had. If this interests you, go for it.  Mark helped get me to where I am now, the worlds team spot I made is partly his and in the future it could be you competing on the world stage if you want to make it!

- Cole

FLAMING MARSHMALLOW!!

magog! the final chapter... (kinda)
nice place, another uncomfortable plane ride to montreal and back. The last stand before the selection! It was an interesting race and prep for it was good, wasn't perfect but nothing ever is. Felt good and fast right up to the race so that's all that mattered. Got to the start-line feeling primed and ready. WHAMMY! and it was off to a good start, ( beach start itself wasn't grand ). First out of the water with 25secs on the next guy,  decided to go for it solo. Got to 12/13km after a slight headwind on the out and back 20km ride and was no match for a pack of 25 working together. In hindsight i should have waited for at least a couple other athletes just out of T1 but it was too late for that, I had spent the energy and it was all for not. Stayed in the front half of the pack takin some pulls and then moved up and went first into T2. Transition I scored at 5outof10 and went onto the run in about 4th. The running race began and it wasn't mine to be had.. spent a bit to much of the tank on the solo effort and the time showed. Another day, another race, not what i wanted but I can't complain too much. Shouldn't have soloed but the decision had to be made. Ready to crush Kelowna and Budapest if the Triathlon gods see me as the right tool for the job.

ps. Do not shake the stick which harbours a flaming marshmallow with intent to extinguish it. It will send a sticky ball of fire onto your face. Instead blow. That is all.

to infinity and beyond!!!!

no excuses

Race today in saskatoon. Second of the Jr. series and a significant race to demonstrate fitness and ability for the remaining worlds position. It wasn't my race today and I placed 4th. This was a disappointment for me but there are always those races. Training up to the race was going as it should and it ultimately came down to me not having it in me today. Right from the start I felt weak and my swim seemed as though I was going on half a tank. Instead of leading I was sloppy and slow. The ride didn't feel fast but regardless the legs didn't have that power I'm used to. Aerobically I was coasting but was otherwise drained. This carried over to the run where I felt I was empty. Frustrating for me considering how training was feeling in the week prior, but a good learning experience to be humbled by. Can't always have the performance your ready for and for me it's just another chip at the block. Looking forward to putting it all together for Magog and demonstrating my real ability and potential. Congratulations to Matt for the dub, Marc for a strong second, and Joel for a solid third, wish I could have been there today to present more of a challenge. Great race to watch on the girls side, and congrats to everyone there (christine, gabby, and ali especially)

c.

Pain pays off

Working through the next bit of training after the coteau race seemed to be interesting obstacle on the flight home. Not knowing how long it would take for my legs to recuperate after the deep fatigue from one of the hardest bike experiences of my life was a big question in my head.

It's safe to say that saturday's Mechosin ride was a great indicator of my bodies ability to respond to the stress. With a hard lake swim that morning, matt and I put in some good work trying to drop JP and Aaron from our feet a few times, with some success and a great workout for everyone. This took a bit out of the tank for sure. From Thetis we rode to Mechosin for our 15 minuteish loop with 2 climbs and a respectable vertical. I could feel some fatigue riding out but aerobically was 100%. The workout was 12mins effort, 4 mins easy, X 3. We grouped up; Matt, Connor, and JP were with me and we got started. I was expecting to be just hanging on for this loop as Connor is a horse when it comes to hills and the rolling ascent is a tad harder for me when i'm packin a few extra pounds at 170ish. To my surprise though I ended up having to wait for the guys after the first climb and by the end of the workout just went solo: thanks Kanute. So I can confidently say I've reached a level I wasn't at before and it's an awesome feeling. Pain pays off, this next race in Saskatoon feels like an excellent opportunity for me to show it.

Homage to Ben Kanute - the Coteau experience

Race report!
-Coteau, the worlds qualifier, came third! gahgrrrr ufff. In order to make the team you had to be the first or second man through. I was the first man after the swim? I was the 2nd man after the bike? but placed behind 2 great athlete's by the name of Matt Sharpe and Alexander Hinton in the end: see results. where did i lack the winning edge? the run! what contributed to the dulling of that edge? the ride. What a ride it was. Within a race there are always unexpected variables that play into the flow of a race. This time it was finding myself lacking my expected comrades on the bike and with one other guy by the name of Ben Kanute from the U-S-of-A. He set the pace and set it fast heading out of the water. We gapped the chase pack by 40 secs at one point, not without a significant amount of work though. Lots of respect to his riding.

I ran after him out of T2 and by the end of the run was chasing Matt and Alex, but to no avail. With a 32 second gap on my roomate/teamate Marc Christin in fourth I cruised in without any chance of running the leaders down after working 3 times harder on the bike than i ever had. At least it felt like that at the time haha
So now it's onto saskatoon on the 11th. Should be a good race and this time with a better result and a faster run time. Looking forward to showing I'm the guy for the 3rd spot at worlds.
peace out
Cole

The last few weeks

The gap between now and my previous post is pretty substantial. Much happened and it was an extremely hectic time so I'm going to give a rough outline because i don't quite feel like writing a novel
So..
Prep for Ixtapa was going great everything was shaping up how it should have, a few bumpy patches here and there but overall it was a great windup to the race. The bumpy bits included moving from UVic to an amazing new pad with Marc-Antoine Christin and Alison Hooper, simply because the move turned out to be quite the stressful affair with a lot to do.  Then there was Ixtapa, a great opportunity to show ones standing in triathlon turned into quite the contrary. The race was flipped into a Duathlon and thus was an exhibition race so to speak, this was largely due to the race "organizers" lacking organization woot! Responsibilities like that of water safety where left up to 3 lifeguards.. in an extremely rough surf. PATCO in Mazatlan 2008 had waves much larger but the nature of the waves as quite different with them cresting in deeper water, the fact that 50 lifeguards were present helped a bit too. So with the swim canceled the race was a dirty mess full of crashes, fast running and heat stress. Race was good until the later part of the second run. I was the last person on the tail end of the front pack after the first run, rode through a few bodies and got 800m in to see Sharpie go down. This put the defence mode crit style cycling tactics p to the front focus so I pulled going into the next corner and made sure I was no more than 15 people deep in the pack, always yelling and watching the erratic movements of the south american riders. The Americans were strong and so were most of the Canucks. "Do Work" was the motto for the ride as the race would favour strong runners that sat in with and easy riding pace so i tried to keep the tempo high and get them out of their comfort zone. The run wasn't what i had hoped for with severe abdominal cramps hitting me part way in. All in all it was a good learning experience but a very frustrating one as well because of all the energy that went into preparing for a race that meant nothing.

WASA lake

My first Olympic distance race ever wasn't as hard as i had been led to believe. The swim was a surprise and poor timing made it so i didn't have a swim warmup. The 13hr drive up didn't help with the "feel" in the water either. Came out of the water first with Aaron Thomas on my feet from the first buoy and the favourite to win John Bird on his hip, this was a big surprise as i didn't expect anyone to be of our swimming caliber. The  time trial style ride was where i realized how important aerodynamics really are! John Bird gapped Aaron and I by 2mins 15sec approx. in the 40km flat out and back. It was a hot day and i had an alarming sore back going onto the run because my back flexibility not being used to that style of riding. Going into the 10km run I had been told of the importance of building into it, so as Aaron  pulled away out of T2 I thought I might be doing something wrong. As soon as i hit about the 5500m mark i started feeling really comfortable and natural so i kicked it up and ran a 34.30 passing Bird and Thomas with 2 km to go. Cruised into the shoot with a pleasantly surprising win.

Coteau!

This race on the 26th is just outside of Montreal and is now our Worlds qualifier due to poor circumstances in Ixtapa. I find a lot of people make excuses going into races when they feel a void in confidence. Then there are a lot of excuses coming out of races for performances that don't reach what the goal or expected output is. This has been a silent motivator for me in the preparation for this race with a renewed significance; to clear any room for excuses. I was wished good luck today when talking to the friendly guys at Trek Pro City. This reminded me of lacking the excuses. Luck does not exist, there is only opportunity, and preparation without these excuses.  Be prepared to seize the opportunity. I've put in the work and feel the way I should heading into this race. So when confronted with the race ahead of me I don't feel the nerves from pressure, only excitement. I look forward to seizing the opportunity.
Look up here after the race for a race follow up, I promise this time it won't be such a lengthly period of time between posts haha

peace
C.

On route to Ixtapa

Though I'd through down a quick post regarding training, racing, recovery and other things that concerning my life.
Training - both good and bad in this department. I've had a longstanding bout of soreness and fatigue it seems like since the week following the Tucson training camp. It occurred to me that this coincided with no longer using protein power in my daily regime. The decision to stop using it was an attempt to drop weight in the upper body that would hopefully result in faster running. After this and a rather painful attempt at the "sacred heart diet" which was of no avail in the long run, I came to the realization that my morphology is what it is. So my new approach to running fast is to.. uuuhhh, run! Training since going back to the old practice is picking back up and i'm putting a lot more focus on the recovery..
Recovery - consists of the reintroduction of massage, chiro and stretching, which with the lifestyle changes of moving over to victoria had been thrown out the window with my previous routine. Keep It Simple Stupid, gonna stick with what works, workin hard, working smart and lots of pampering the machine.
School - wrapping up with my last exam on the 24th, will be glad to put that behind me and have nothing else to worry about besides training.
Moving - I will be moving on the 29th from the university (and all it's frustrating life lessons) to an awesome new 3 brdm place with Alison Hooper and Marc-ie marc Christin. Only 400m or so from the pool and with all the summery goodness fast approaching I truly can't wait to get going on what the future has in store.
Racing - 30days till Ixtapa, just thinking it gets me all fired up while my stomach churns at the same time. So stoked to lay down the hammer and start an awesome season. Ready to ride my new chariot (Cyfac) along with my team-mates/friends and show some real Canadian dominance.



a good friend of mine once said..
Let the past go but don't forget,
Make the future, don't wait for it,
and make choices now,
Because the present is you only option..

Peace

Awesome "Austin" Horn

Due to recent discussion about an incidence regarding a 1500m TT, I am prompted to silence some discrepancies that arose in accordance to a blog post made by the one and only Austin Horn...

The time was a 17.35.9

Austin Horn, a highly esteemed swim run bicyclist (also known as a triath-A-lonist) in the greater victoria region made allegations that i went a 17.36, and "i actually just read your whole post now and now im actaully a little bit upset.." (lol). I must admit that austin ensues within me numerous forms of envy. Hence why I feel obligated to rebel against his lies, which are many, and often used to simply impress me or others around me, but mostly me. This envy conjured up is due to a few things that I feel everyone can agree on.. The amount of awesome that seems to be bottled into his being doesn't seem natural, and it kinda is resembled in part by this game unicorn robot game (both things you can't quite understand but because of this are awe inspiring). I think the point of all this is that i think we should pay him a little more attention and learn from his ways. Like have you seen that picture with the rad aviators, who wouldn't want to know how to emulate that in some way, or run as fast as he does, or crush pavement like its just another day at the office. From the extravagant brain that directs his actions to the chiseled marble body the acts as a conduit for all things of worth in this universe, Austin is the shit, like legit. Y'all should be jealous if you don't know him.. in all seriousness though.
Watch for Austin in Monterey MEX and around the globe, he's this fast!

MY NEW BIKE!!!!!! just the frame right now

Hey so I have an announcement to make... LKJBVASDCLGVDSLUFCVALUVEBIKEBIKE EXCITEMENT AHBLSJHVCLABIKEFASTZOOMSPEEDPOWERFAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    okay i think i i got a little bit of the excitement out but there's more to come i'm sure!   I want to send out a  HUUUUGGGEEEE THANK UOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my amazing supporters Leonard Hill and Anthony King. They're help has been a big piece in the puzzle for what gets me to the top of my game (sport).
the frame is now in the mail coming from Hommes, France and I'm so pumped to crush the pavement when it gets all set up.
more updates to come

pics!!!

Soul for the soul?

blurry vision

Thought i'd post something besides an intro and talk a lil about how training and how my body is reacting to it.  While listening to some chill tunes that sync with the general body ache that comes with a long run on what think could be a young and formidable sickness woot! lets keep the fingers crossed on it being a bloom in pollen (breaking news from Kyla Coates) yes! and my first successful link. Already in the hang of this blogging jazz.
The workout seemed pretty simple (80min run 15' warmup 30-45 build to tempo) but I was able to appreciate a rather complex result derived from it. This included an adventurous route of exploring which started with a chip trail loop out through random golf course trails I didn't know existed to a flower infested elementary school field down to the Uplands (funny enough it's downhill and on the coast, not very up if you ask me) back to cordova bay where i then took a road i didn't know existed (yay! for run on sentences with no grammatical confines!) As i crested a  hill 25' into my tempo build my HR spiked to 190 at what i though was a reasonable pace.  Any explanations all you educated readers?!?  After this my cough gave me watery eyes and a good reminder of the day before that seemed like one continuous day of training yet again. I think i was approx. 60 mins in at this point due to a long drawn out warm up. I reminded myself that it's okay to have those shitty days of training and went on exploring further. Found myself on a single lane road riddled with fallen branches the reminded me of "quiet neighbourhood" where young adolescence seem to "disappear"haha. Aaaannnnnndddd song insert that came in on shuffle that helped me zone out to get back on the one of the main roads. Got into a groove and my lungs let me breath for a few, got back to campus, drank some melon mango juice that tasted o so good... Moral of the story isss don't get sick.. it sucks

First Real Post - My life.. and hello, kinda

So after a short bout of contemplation I decided to join the masses and become a blogger. This decision was spurred mostly by my curiosity of knowing whether people ( besides my mother <3 ) would like to hear about the life and times of Cole Stewart. So if you do know me then feel free to follow what ensues, live a little vicariously, enjoy my banter (if I feel obligated enough to post it) and know all of what I'm liberal enough to relinquish. If you don't happen to know me then read on and hopefully it will serve as a close second.

I've never had to give a synopsis of any kind on my life but since I'm feeling like I should, given the blog does pertain to me... here goes nothing ( no judgment of quality or quantity okay! )

-Born in Richmond BC on February 24th, 1991. I was a fat baby apparently and belonged (still do) to one Trish Griffith-Stewart and one Wes Stewart
- Grew up in Langley BC. Solid place to do it. Had a rather awesome childhood i could say. Lived in a good neighbourhood, with a lot at my disposal.
- My parents were gracious enough to introduce me to a variety a sports ( frowned upon the one by brother and I did a fair bit of (fighting) which oddly enough he does a fair bit of (competitively of course)). The competitive nature was either bred into us or a learned behaviour, not to sure but it's something I can say is a part of me
- At a young age of 12, I was confronted with the decision of whether to play rep soccer or swim with the swim in the National group (gold group i think it was called at the time) of the Langley Olympians Swim Club. After being well immersed in both of these ( don't quite remember how all that was juggled together, it was a good thing my bro played up a year on the same team that father coached or else our busy schedule could have altered the space time continuum, but i digress) I chose to SWIM!. just keep swimming just keep swimming.
- Many trials and tribulations took place after that but i'll jump to the next bit. TRIATHLON! it all started when.. um.. don't remember what race it was exactly but, pretty much my parents had gotten into the great sport of triathlon through a family friend (and adopted grandparent, phenom triathlete and enthusiastic philanthropist so to speak) Brian Parkinson. I had always done the kids races and I ended up going to BC summer games, after that i could say it was my official switch to triathlon. A book could be filled with bits and bites relevant to me becoming a triathlete but along with the help and support of many, i made the transition (get it!) into triathlon.
- Went through high school (Walnut Grove Secondary School) and kept up with the cross country (Sparks your amazing) and track (you too Lutes). Dabbled in the Science and Art programs at WGSS.
- Then I moved on and moved out to Victoria (UVIC precisely) to try and earn some credits and figure out a few things about life all while training with the National Triathlon Centre (NTC)..

So that's that and feel free to follow and find out what's going on regarding the last point from the eyes of Cole.

Cheers
Cole Stewart
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