Toronto Triathlon Club News and Events

Triathlon Magazine Canada Presents - Chrissie Wellington at GEARS Toronto

Donna Bowers — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:24:33 GMT

Toronto (May 11, 2012) – Chrissie Wellington, the unlikely world champion of Ironman, will transition through Toronto for the season’s hottest event leading up to the start of Canada’s triathlon season. A four-time Ironman world champion, Wellington will appear at GEARS Toronto, presented by Triathlon Magazine Canada, on Friday, May 25, at 6 p.m. for the only Canadian stop on her book tour.

Wellington, who is from England, will sign copies of her recently released new book A Life Without Limits and speak with fellow triathletes during a question and answer session open to the public. Part memoir, travel diary, and training guide, A Life Without Limits is Wellington’s firsthand account of her unlikely rise to the top. In addition to her personal story, Wellington shares training tips, stories and lessons from around the globe, and what it takes to be a champion in competitive sport.

Since she began racing in 2006, Wellington is undefeated in Ironman races and has placed first in 30 of the 38 races she has entered. A three-time Challenge Roth champion in the Ironman distance, Wellington also set the world Ironman record at the event in 2011 with a time of 8:18:32. The Ironman distance triathlon comprises a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run. For more about Wellington, go to http://www.chrissiewellington.org/.

This will be the only Canadian stop on Wellington’s book tour. Books will be available for in-store purchase. Triathlon Magazine Canada will also have prize giveaways.

Gears Toronto is located at 109 Vanderhoof Avenue near Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue. For directions, please go to http://gearsbikeshop.com/locations-section/toronto/.

Newbie Night 2012

Donna Bowers — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:45:15 GMT

There was standing room only for our 2012 Newbie Night Clinic at our club sponsor Endurosport. Attending were a great mix of members and guests with plans to race this season. Information was provided about training and racing including swim (Maria), bike (Ted), run (Roger) and nutrition (Tara). A lively question period followed the presentation. Many of those present took advantage of the additional discounts offered by Endurosport for our club clinics. Following the clinic there was a pub social. Many thanks to Endurosport, the presenters and our attendees for an excellent and informative evening.

Around the Bay Race Reports

Donna Bowers — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:02:12 GMT

Another Around the Bay race is behind us and what at day it was. I have heard of several people setting personal bests, congratulations! The 7th time was a charm for me as well, as I was able to shave 10 minutes off my time and run up that last hill to boot. The weather was perfect.

Please enjoy reading about Raúl's and Adie's experiences last week and feel free to add a comment or add your own race story to this post.

Raúl Andrés Pérez

Finished the ATB 30K 2012 race in “2hrs 24 min” (my PB is 2hr 22min ten yearsago). Against all odds, being a prostate cancer survivor, battling hypothyroidism and after making a couple of mistakes like running too fast the first 7K and getting overdressed for the race I made a pretty nice time in the end. To resume, I run the first 7K in 30 min, I just got behind the “elite”runners at the start line and got too exited close to them (big mistake #1),then I started to feel too hot; I had to get rid of my “arm warmers” and wintergloves (big mistake #2 since I spent a lot of time and energy getting rid of them). Finally, I passed the 10K in 43 min, I was already feeling dead and had no energy to continue.

I did not feel like I was able to finish the race and almost quit at that point but I’ve never stopped in any of the races I’ve participated so I had no other option but to continue running only with spirit and the intention to complete the race. After running a few more K; I passed the 15K mark at 1hr: 8min and realized it was not so bad at all. Then, I passed the 20K mark in 1H 33min, at that moment I told too myself: “from here is only 10K more, nothing can stop me now”. I passed the 25K mark in 1hr 59min 30sec, I was really happy of my recovery. When I reached the last bridge getting back to Hamilton from the bay (only 4 more K) I end up in 2:24 sharp, according my chronometer. Checked the official time and it was2:24:19 secs . I know I did well in the end. Thx God for giving me the will and enough strength to complete the race; without HIM would have been impossible!!

Adie Thorp

At 37 I managed to coax my body to run for 10k, on hearing this a friend suggest I sign up for Around The Bay, like a fool I did, not realizing the difference that an additional 20k would make, hey I was new to running, it's my only excuse. 2 years later I found myself yet again at the start line waiting for the start of the 2012 ATB. Weather for the third year running was cool, something I welcome, anything above 10 degrees and i'm in a whole world of pain, ask anyone who saw me at Gravenhurst or Muskoka last year. So I'm squashed in the 1st 1/4 of people trying to focus on the game plan, it was easy, start off comfortable and at each relay station push a bit harder, take breaks early and hydrate often, take gels before I need them and run the hills. Simple and effective, only problem was the gun went off. Something happens to every runner at that point, the experienced runners enjoy the moment, the rest of us use the adrenaline and go. I went! Now I should say at this point I had 2 plans, plan A, 5min/k and aim to beat 2:30, plan B, push hard and cruise the hills and leave the big guns for the last 2 hills and see if I can still come in under 2:30.

So straight to plan B it was, actually I did a bit of both, I ran what felt a far too comfortable 46 minutes for the first 10k, things were starting to warm up but I was in complete control of my breathing, my legs felt loose and I had just had my first gel, I decided to keep just above my target pace to the 2nd relay point at 15k, so I was trotting along at a nice 4:50 and once past the second group of relay hand offs I started to realize I was slipping back to plan B, time to make a decision, I did 13 events last year and only a few less the year before, I have called every event within 3 minutes of my finish time so I'm pretty confident at what this 39 year old body can do. So I slowed it down to 5min/k knowing the 24-26k stretch would be slow going, and I was to take a few 30 pace walk breaks along the way. Also the day was heating up rapidly, I was loosing fluid fast and I was starting to worry about hydration. The smart me won out and I switched back to plan A while I still could, 15-20k was a bit of an anticlimax, the whole race is so well supported by the aid station crew and the public I only wish I was less focused on what I was doing because the next time I consciously thought about my surroundings i was passing the 21k mark, a quick look at my garmin told me I had just ran close to my best 1/2 marathon time, not good for someone saving energy. Time to do a quick body check, head up and looking ahead, check, shoulders relaxed, check, elbows tucked in, check, core supporting my weight check, legs still able to produce more power if needed, check, hip to ankle free of pain but feeling fatigued, check, midfoot strike still happening, check, blisters forming on my toes, check, ahh! not a good sign, but I can put the blister pain in a box and seal that away for quite some time.

Okay, so with eveything still operating as it should time to take a walk, 30 quick paces on the flat, time for a gel, some fluid and then start back at a slow jog, it always amazes me when I start at a slow jog the first 100meters are always close to a 5min/k I rely now on those walk brakes to regulate my speed and stop me from running way outside my capacity. Before I know it I'm on the second to last long draining hill, I drop the length of my stride and keep the effort the same, breathing starts to get a bit labored but I'm feeling strong all the way to the top, then I keep my stride the same untill my breathing is under control, take some more fluid and get ready for the descent to the last hill, predictably people are running past me on the way down, I watch them go forcing myself to maintain good form, keep my leg speed under control and focus on my goal. I remember what I trained for, and for everyone who trained with me, my moto is WE RUN THE HILLS, meaning we make it to the top before we need to recover, so my mantra was set and I started the last climb, over the bridge bear left into the steep straight, shortening my stride and keeping the cadence, i chanced a glance at the garmin as I turned right 4.50min/k feeling encouraged I kept going knowing I had a chance to recover but only at the top, the last left and I'm up and over, it's all down hill from here.

My legs are protesting now, my lungs are screaming for my inhaler, I ignore it for a while and realize the foolishness of this action, no point in running without being able to breath so time to slow down first, get my heart rate down and then walk, another body check told my there was no sprinting to the finish, my hips were stiff, my blister pain started to seep outside of the box and my lungs were still not happy, 30 paces turned to 60 and then another of my taunts to my running buddies came back to haunt me, a slow jog is faster than a fast walk, so I started jogging, I can see the finish, but memories of the first year just coming up to the graveyard and seeing Copps Coliseum I sped up on the homeward leg, only to be walking at 28k and then again at 29k feeling a bit silly walking when I should have been running, so this time I kept my goal in mind and did some quick calculations, 3k to go 2h10 gone, 20 minutes to run 3k, don't blow it! I settled down to a comfortable pace somewhere between 5:00-5:20min/k past the grave yard willing each marker to arrive quicker, all the people that sprinted down the hill firmly behind me, the last one I remember walking 1/2 way along the graveyard stretch I picked up the pace a little, that is to say I needed a lot more effort to keep at the same pace, now I was pushing close to 100 effort and just keeping up with the traffic, as you run past Copps the support is probably the greatest and most welcome, it's like your own homecoming, I know I knew no-one there but at that moment it was like they all knew I was reaching my goal and were cheering me on, once again to the ramp, I just let my legs carry me, I knew they would take me at my fastest possible pace to the finish and I just let them, all I had to do was enjoy the moment and look up at the clock.....2:26 that will do for me, Around the Bay 2012, you have been put to bed, Good Night!.

24 hrs later I'm sitting at my computer, afraid to try and get up, my legs are quite stiff and my dog so far has been walked once around the block, I have work tonight and I'm wearing support socks to help minimize the recovery time, I poured my heart out at the race and will probably be doing the same at every race I attend this year, next one will be Welland, my first 70.5 and once again I will be on the wrong end of a huge learning curve, but that's what makes this so much fun doesn't it?
Adie Thorp
3rd time survivor of Around the Bay bib 6889
1st time member of Toronto Triathlon Club

Bike Maintenance Clinic - March 27, 2012

Donna Bowers — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:39:31 GMT

Chris from Endurosport, one of our club sponsors, presented an excellent talk and demonstration about bike maintenance. Over 30 club members attended making this a very successful standing room only event. Chris thoroughly knows bikes, and explained and illustrated virtually every component, how they function and how to adjust, clean, and regularly maintain your bike to reduce maintenance costs as well as identify times to have more serious work done by the experts. Clearly, the two most effective means to maintain a healthy bike are to keep your bike(s) clean and maintain recommended tire pressure. Watching the correct process to change a tire/tube in less than a minute was equally useful. Chris answered many questions from the audience during his talk, making the evening highly informative. Many members took advantage of the bonus discount offered by Endurosport during club clinics, including a selection of bike maintenance and cleaning items. Many thanks to Endurosport and Chris for this bike maintenance clinic. (by Ted Rosen)

Lake Placid Training Camp 2012

Donna Bowers — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:23:09 GMT

Absolute Endurance presents: Lake Placid Training Camp 2012 June 8-10th

This training weekend will include swim, bike and run training, focused on Half-Iron and Iron Distance triathlon and will improve the fitness and confidence of any athlete. We offer a friendly and fun training atmosphere and welcome athletes of all levels and abilities! Click Lake Placid Training Camp to download or view flyer for details.

Toronto Triathlon Club 2012 Club Wear Design

Donna Bowers — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:07:31 GMT

The Decision to Redesign the Club Gear

Due to the strong growth of the club and the celebration of the club’s 5^th anniversary, the board has reevaluated many of its polices, which included the team’s club wear. A new design was necessary as some of the club sponsors had changed. The board felt that it was a great opportunity to have a new, fresh design while increasing the gear selection for the members so that we could all wear our colours with pride at events or in training.

The Designer

Andrew Perro works as a graphic designer for TMX Equicom, an investor relations firm owned by the Toronto Stock Exchange. Andrew works on projects such as logo and website design, corporate presentations and annual reports for some of

Canada

’s largest public companies. He also has worked on many side projects such as being selected to design Canada Post’s Christmas themed stamps for the past few years.

Partly due to his interest in cycling and partly because of the uniqueness of the project, Andrew generously donated his time to design our new club wear. Initially thought to only require two to three hours, the project design took over 10 hours.

The Vision

Using just the club logo and past designs for inspiration, Andrew wanted to come up with a design that took elements from the logo and colours that captured the feeling of speed and being aerodynamic while creating a modern, sleek, clean, cutting edge design that would turn heads and show off the club and its sponsors in the best possible light. We wanted to make the new design less busy and distracting so that we could better display our TTC logo, the logos of our sponsors and our website address.

The Process

We started with about 15 different designs in the first round and based on the board’s feedback and through seven rounds of revisions and adjustments we eventually narrowed it down and selected the prototype that we have unveiled.

We wanted to stay away from using too much white because of the translucency when wet. We went with tri shorts that were mainly black because we recognized that not everyone would want to purchase the club shorts based on the fact that those garments are such a personal comfort issue. We wanted members to have the option to wear their own tri shorts but yet still be able to match with the team gear.

When choosing the colour scheme for the tops we chose darker colours because we were sensitive to the fact that darker colours are more flattering to our figures. We may have the hearts of a teenager but not many of us still have the body of a teenager. We wanted our members to look their best and feel their best when wearing the club clothing. Based on the material of the clothing and the breathability of it, we were confident that members would stay cool in the summer months despite the darker colours.

Supplier

In the past we had used Sugoi as our clothing supplier. As part of our due diligence we looked at other clothing suppliers. Many people’s first introduction to the club will be seeing our clothing at events or out on the roads during training. Having a great looking product that is of the highest quality is key to not only evoking pride within our membership when wearing the clothing, but also projecting a positive image for the club to other prospect members and the triathlon community.

There were a number of criteria we considered which included quality, fit, brand recognition, and price. We felt that Sugoi was the leader in each category and we are happy to continue our relationship with them.

The Result

We are very proud of the design and we hope the membership is too and feels this is a design they can wear and be proud of, not just at races but in training as well.

2012 Membership Drive Pub

Donna Bowers — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:19:37 GMT

This is our biggest pub night of the year! Come meet our board members, our club sponsors and other members of the club, see why we're Toronto's premier Triathlon Club! And don't forget to bring a friend!

Jeff Chong, head of the Toronto Triathlon Festival will be there to tell us more about this new downtown Toronto race, as well as our other knowledgeable, industry sponsors, Nigel from NRGPT, Dan from Endurosport, Tara from Heal Nutrition, and Luigi from Clif Bars. Come ask the experts any questions you may have about racing and training, nutrition, picking a bike or bike maintenance.

We'll have some prizes, and we'll also raffle off a free race entry for the Toronto Triathlon Festival-July 22nd!

Please sign up here, we need to know how many appetizers to order ... no really! See you there.

Swim Meet , February 29, 2012

Donna Bowers — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:09:21 GMT

The Winter Swim Meet was held on Wednesday Feb 29^th, at the D.A. Morrison Pool in Scarborough. There were individual freestyle races over 200, 50, 100 and 25 meters. These were hard fought, notably 25 meter sprint. The Meet was in the format of a team competition with the Flying Fish and the Mighty Marlins going head to head. The team scores were pretty much even going into the 6-person relay series.

Contestants were caught off-guard when new rules were imposed by coach Kim Lumsdon in her capacity as Starter and Chief Judge. The publicly-billed kicking relay was mandated by her to be a kicking-backstroke race instead. The fin relay was mandated to be performed in butterfly. And so on. The contestants were obedient. They did strokes they had never done before and probably will never do again in public to avoid embarrassment. Oddities such as life-jacket freestyle and inflatable-tube back-paddle engaged attention. Kim piled on extra relays for amusement and the teams splashed, kicked and paddled themselves to a standstill.

At the pub social afterwards, the points were tallied, the tallies were scrutinised, and final outcome of the Meet was declared a tie. Despite the fact that a tie was somewhat improbable, Elections Canada found no irregularities. (Story by John Hughes)

Check out the rest of the event photos and videos!

Bike Fit and Purchase Clinic Feb 28

Donna Bowers — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:11:23 GMT

Chris Bastie of Enduro Sport presented an excellent talk on the selection and fitting of bikes for triathlon. Chris was a customer relations rep at Cervello prior to his current position at Enduro Sport and has a comprehensive knowledge of the bike industry. Covering all aspects of bike design, construction, components and fit, Chris clearly described the options and choices available for new and used bike selection. He talked extensively about the differences in bike design and fitting for men and women. Most important to Chris is the fit of the bike, starting with the frame size and design, and then proceeding with customizing the fit through selection and positioning of seat and aerobar to achieve the best balance of aerodynamic position and comfort for the individual rider with respect to their riding and racing objectives. He stressed that the best fit for a rider changes through the season, and recommends regularly reviewing one’s riding position and bike fit adjustments. There is always something useful to be learned at a clinic and Chris provided a unique perspective. I’ll be applying many of Chris’s recommendations. (Story by Ted Rosen)

2012 NRG Training Camps

Donna Bowers — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:50:32 GMT

New Mt Tremblant IM Training Camp: we are going to be running our weekend Ironman camp on the new Mt Tremblant course this year, it will be the weekend of June 15-17 and we will be running the camp out of the Marriott Residence Inn details can be found here: http://www.nrgpt.com/mont-tremblant-training-camp-june-15-17-2012-p148671

France Training Camp: we will be heading back to France as well next year! We will be based out of Luchon again and the tentative dates are May 3-13, we are looking to ride all or parts of 2 stages of the 2012 Tour de France that come through Luchon! Details will be available soon check our website for updates http://www.nrgpt.com/nrg-france-camp-2012--p148675

Please contact Nigel (nigel@nrgpt.com) with any questions

Tuscon 2012 Training Camp

Donna Bowers — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:21:58 GMT

Join Absolute Endurance Training and Therapy in Tucson, Arizona! Get out in the sun and log some early miles swimming,biking and running to get a head start on your competitors; enjoy some of the best cycling in North America. Workouts will be catered to all levels of fitness and all levels of racing, and include coached workouts and group rides as well as information sessions on swimming, cycling, run technique and race transitions Tucson Flyer 2012.pdf.

Winter Rides

Donna Bowers — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:06:19 GMT

Given the conditions, the ride was an opportunity to stress-test equipment and apparel, with riders stopping now and again to help one another out. The designated 30km course took them from the Absolute Endurance gym at 115 Merton Street north westwards to Keele, south west to Eglinton, across the Humber River, south on river down to the cycle bridge across the Humber estuary, east along the Martin Goodman trail, diverting to Liberty Village for warmth and coffee and carrot cake at Balzac’s, then north through the U of T campus to St Clair and home to Absolute Endurance. That was the plan. Things turned out differently.

There was a stiff westerly wind, making for slow going and substantial wind chill. Not long into the ride, wardrobe malfunctions materialised. A pain-sharing protocol was implemented whereby the riders took turns wearing a certain pair of gloves! When the peloton reached The Old Mill the riders diverted to the Bloor St subway station, dug for subway tokens and journeyed home in civilised fashion on the TTC. They were exposed to the elements for nearly three hours - three cold, tough hours. They tested the limits of their endurance. They had a ball.

The next winter ride will take place on Saturday February 4th. Not sure about what you need for winter riding. Check out: http://www.ehow.com/how_5125524_choose-winter-cycling-apparel.html