Tucson Camp Wrap Up

Tucson, originally uploaded by jfilliol1.

The first National Team training camp finished up on Monday in Tucson. Over the 3 weeks we had great weather overall, and had fun while putting in some excellent training. It was a good start to the year for the squad and already its clear that many of the athletes have come through the winter at a level above last year. The training was balanced among each discipline during the camp, hitting roughly 75km of swimming, 915 km of riding and 215km of running over the three weeks. The athletes have now gone home to their respective training bases for a block on their own, before returning for the second camp at our altitude base, Flagstaff Arizona at the end of February.

Brazil Fast Triathlon

Kyle Jones, Connor Hammond and Andrew Yorke competed in the Brazil Fast Triathlon in Florianopolis last weekend, placing 2nd in the team division. The race format was a 250m swim, 4k bike, and 1.3k run, three times through with a short rest between each race. The Brazilian team won the event, with the Americans in 3rd place. Well done to the team for the strong finish.

Quote of the Day

Jordan, Kyle, Andrew, originally uploaded by jfilliol1.

When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.
Chinua Achebe

Inspired by Rappstar

Mt Lemmon Take 2

Simon, Colin, Sean, Paul, Jonnyo, originally uploaded by jfilliol1.

The crew hit Mount Lemmon again today, a beautiful day for a ride. It was nice to see the guys find their climbing legs after the first go at the lemmon on day 2 of the camp. Great ride overall, with groups going to 11, 14 and 18 miles. With a 5km activation swim this morning and a run off the bike, a solid day of training done. Tomorrow we're back at the pool for another endurance swim, followed by a fartlek run. Also tomorrow Kyle is off to Brazil for the Fast triathlon, a super-sprint team format race, Kyle came to the camp ready to put in the work and has had an excellent two weeks here in Tucson. His fitness is already a level up from last year at this time, he's ready for a big year in 08.

The Common Denominator of Success

Group Pic, originally uploaded by jfilliol1.

“The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do… They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”
E. M. Gray

Week #2 of the National Team camp in Tucson is a wrap. Another very solid week by all, with the highlights being a great long run at Saguaro Park, and the whole group riding well at the Shootout ride on Saturday. The weather has been great and the crew has been having fun while putting in the work. It was another 24hr week, balanced between swimming, riding and running. The focus here has been adjusting to the volume and frequency required for the next block, and overall, building endurance as a foundation for the year. While each of the athletes came into the camp at different levels of fitness, everyone has come up a level quickly by working together and challenging each other. With the the 08 season being an Olympic year, motivation is high and everyone has stepped up their preparation in anticipation of the challenges ahead.

Kathy is headed home tomorrow after an excellent two week block with the boys. Her training has come up a level this fall/winter, and I expect big things from her this coming year. We celebrated her camp with a dinner out at the Sweet Tomato buffet restaurant. I am pretty sure everyone got their moneys worth judging by the waddling out to the van afterwards. Good times.

KISS

The Law of Straight Lines: The shortest path between two points is a straight line. If you want to get a particular result, take the fastest and most direct route. Don’t add any extra steps.
The Law of Clear Vision: In order to hit a target, you need to see it clearly. You must have a clear vision of exactly what you want in order to get it.
The Law of Focused Attention: In order to hit a target, you must focus sufficient attention on it until you hit it.
The Law of Focused Energy: In order to accomplish something you must focus sufficient energy on it until you have done so.
The Inescapability of Action/Reaction: There are two things from which you can never escape: action and reaction.

From Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want

Tucson Camp Week 1

Week 1 is in the books here in Tucson. ~24hrs of training, some solid work by the crew, done and done. We hit a few of the Tucson essentials, including Sabino Canyon, Saguaro Park, Mt Lemmon and the Shootout ride. Great weather, sunny and warm.
We have a great group of athletes here, with Kathy, Kirsten, Andrew, Paul, Colin, Kyle, Sean, Dano, Simon and Jordan, as well as Philippe coaching. We also had a new addition to the camp mid-week in Jonnyo, just like old times

Here are the latest photos:

News Item: Cheers to 2007!

This report filed - January 11, 2008
By Timothy Carlson, senior correspondent

"You've read our annual IT List - now here's the rest of what flew under the radar, what couldn't possibly have gone without notice and what just needs to be commended, chided or made fun of one last time!

Breakthroughs
Kirsten Sweetland, Jarrod Shoemaker (long shot takes first U.S. men's Olympic triathlon slot at Beijing), Jasmine Oeinck (first U.S. woman to podium at U23 ITU Worlds with a stirring silver), Paul Tichelaar."

More at Inside Triathlon

News Item: Island's top athletes up for Sport B.C. awards

Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, January 10, 2008

"The slender but tenacious 18-year-old triathlon sensation and Beijing-hopeful Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria - who had a breakthrough season in 2007 with first, second and seventh-place finishes in World Cup races and a No. 12 world ranking - was nominated as B.C. senior female athlete of the year. The Stelly's grad is up against a pair of winter athletes. Skier Britt Janyk of Whistler, who was told she would have to pay her own way to competitions and responded by placing fourth in the Super-G at the world championships, and world moguls champion Kristi Richards of Summerland are also nominated."

More at canada.com