Tichelaar powers his way up world triathalon rankings

Tichelaar powers his way up world triathalon rankings

John MacKinnon, Canwest News Service

Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008

EDMONTON -- The rhythm of life for a full-time triathlete is exhaustingly simple: you swim, you bike, you run, you eat, you sleep, you swim, you bike, you run.
More important, you improve -- significantly. Edmonton's Paul Tichelaar sure has, zooming up to No. 5 in the International Triathlon Union World Cup rankings this year.
And if the minor downside of the daily triathlon treadmill is a bit of boredom for someone who's as smart as he is fit, well, you blog, you read, you listen to books on tape while you pedal.

And you keep your eyes on the prize: a berth on the Canadian team for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
After all, that's why Tichelaar, 25, put his budding career as an electrical engineer on hold this year, took a nine-month leave of absence and rented an apartment in Victoria to train full time under national team coach Joel Filliol.

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