Back home!

So its a been a while since my last post. The semester is coming to a close and so the papers and studying have been flying in and out.  Settling into Victoria after the Florida camp was a good welcome home. The tan seemed to wash away quicker than I would have liked but the Vic life is great. Training is going smoothly. It's nice to stop and appreciate the fact that I'm fit and injury/sickness free, because you don't usually until it hits the fan. The flights home from Florida  to Vancouver got me home in time to meet with Mindshift - CSL for a photo shoot and interview. Was a lot of fun, and something pretty new for me. The support is amazing and I pictures are awesome! Win Win.
Looking forward to the 5km Champs this Saturday.

Picture: Carl Philibert VP of Mindshift CSL & Me.

a prayer to the flat tire gods... forgive me my past neglect (Clermont sprint ITU)

So i must admit, I have mocked the gods of triathlon. In particular the ones with control over flat tires. Beginner's luck? I can't be sure but I can be sure of a few things. Never assume a rider will keep a clean line. This is especially true around 180degree turns. I am a reasonably aggressive rider and know how to watch out for things in cycling. This comes as a result from lots of practice in Crit races. I cannot stress the benefits of learning how to ride in the dangerous packs. It's key to be mindful of your surrounding and be loud and communicate. you can never assume someone will hold their line. As i did today. Heading into the first turn around at 2.5km I was one of the top 5 or so riders. I had made a decision to stay near the front as it's always safer. Even so I went into the counter clockwise turn around with a Mexican on my right and an American on my inside left. My front wheel was tagged as the rider to my inside swung wide toward the end of the turn. According to weirdtristats.com (and a particular peer edited article on a scientific study*1) I managed to succeed in meeting the 1/13,869 (0.0000721%) chance of a competitors derailler catching at breaking off the valve stem of the tire. I've never heard of this happening... but it did. This immediately took all the air out of my front tire.  In addition to being taken down. I hopped back up rather quickly as the secretory Chromaffin cells within my adrenal medulla pumped a solution consisting of 80% epinephrine, 20% norepinephrine, and a little bit of Dopamine for fun, through my body. I had hoped that the sound of a flat was not me and was ready and able to jump back in with the pack, as they had slowed down significantly for the turn and I was in the front half. I was stopped short. At this time my i left loose a few profane statements and cleared the course.  Came out out with only a few scraps to my ankle, knee and hip. Bit of aesthetic damage to the my amazing Bont shoes and white speed machine but nothing big.  Will race another day. The event brings with it quite a bit of frustration as my race was going very well and I felt really on top of my game. I came out of the water (wading pool?) with a very significant lead after what seemed to me to be an easy run/swim.   My heart rate felt like it was under 120 for the entire swim/run. I'm sure it was higher but heading into it I  felt calm and relaxed. I admit I was skeptical and unconfident in my ability to come out with a lead. Just because of the fact that the first and last 200m of the swim was in water 6 - 24inches deep. Wish my boy Sharpie was up there with me and was able to race. His long legs would been perfect for this pseudo-duathlon. We could crushed together. I think my standing in the swim relied on my staying calm and not sprinting at full tilt the first 100m of the swim. I stayed behind and then made a surge once people began to dolphin dive, got clear water just before the first bouy at 400m and I was gone. You go a lot faster without someone leeching off your hip. This was a confidence booster and I was able to cruise into T1 keeping it relaxed, just like the start. Leave more training time to Bike-Run focus? Just kidding, I know as soon as I race with a stronger swim weighted field I'll be eating those words. Good experience, bad turn of events (no pun-intended ;) ). Excited for the next opportunity. Gonna go for a run now and enjoy the sun before I go home to Victoria. Watch for some of the NTC squad on Hockey night in Canada today, Habs VS. Tampa.  The boys are making use of the cheap ticket prices down here for some good hockey. Wish I could be there but have some studying to do if I wanna be out of school in the next 100 years.
Until next time,
Cole

 here's a video of the swim start and exit... big field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWh870QoWA

I'd like to throw out a huge thank you to my sponsors and supporters, without help I wouldn't be where I am now. The all white custom Cyfac was a power horse as always, unreal power transfer, made life easy peasy lemon squeezy :) Assistance from ThinkMindShift helps me train hard and not have to sweat the details. Support from Trigeeks, Blueseventy, Leonard Hill, Anthony King and lets not forget my parents lets me get that much further ahead. Thanks!



*1-not an actual source :p I try and be funny sometimes

side note. cool info on nutrition shared by alex coates  c.heck it out