Racing Update

Lots to update over the past month and a bit. Starting off with Junior Nationals in Gatineau, the team headed up for their key race of the season. Thunderstorms and torrential rains greeted the athletes making for a wet warm-up and very slippery bike course. John ended up having his best ever bike and run performances (and third best swim performance) to finish up 21st overall. Sister Sarah had a lifetime best race with her best ever bike, 2nd best ever swim and 3rd best ever run performances ending up 31st overall. David had his 2nd best ever race with a 3rd best ever swim, 2nd best ever bike and 3rd best ever run, finishing 41st overall. Derek had his best ever swim, however, flatted with 2.5km to go in the bike. He still managed to finish the race with his 2nd best ever performance! Here are some pics from the event:

      

The following week, Derek headed to Montreal to race in Age Group Nationals in the pool. He had strong swims in several freestyle events and finished the meet with the 5k open water race in the Olympic rowing basin. 

Also that weekend, David Hopton raced the Trisport Series event at Belwood Lake. Finishing 2nd Junior, David had his best ever non-drafting bike and run performances leading to his best ever non-drafting race.

John and Sarah resumed racing yesterday at the Niagara triathlon in Grimsby. Both finished third in the Junior ranks. On the same weekend Derek finished first Junior at the Windsor triathlon, which followed a 2nd place at the Bala Falls triathlon two weeks prior.

Great month of racing team!

Coteau-du-Lac

Coteau-du-Lac served as the second National Junior Series race and as Junior Provincials. Using the Coach Dan performance ranking pts system, David, Derek and John all had their best race ever and Sarah also had her best result that's currently in the coach's database. Everyone had a few small areas of improvement possible that will  lead to even faster performances in 1.5 weeks at Junior Nationals in Gatineau. Here are the team's results and some photos:

John Rasmussen: 8th in Provincials, 16th Overall, best swim ever making the first chase pack

Derek Quick: 11th in Provincials, 31st Overall, swam in the first pack into T1

David Hopton: 12th in Provincials, 32nd Overall, also best swim making the first chase pack

Sarah Rasmussen: 8th in Provincials, 32nd Overall, also a best swim performance

Affiliate Member Angela Quick (PTC): 3rd Ontario, 14th Overall

Lakeside Sprint

Lakeside Team Photo on the podium: First to Third in the Junior Men's race (1st, 2nd and 4th Overall) and First in the Junior Women's race (2nd Overall). 

A good prep race today at Lakeside leading into the two National Junior Series races with Coteau-du-Lac coming in two weeks followed soon after by Junior Nationals in Gatineau, Quebec.

Here are more photos from the day:

Sarah excited to be racing!

The boys in T1.

John in T2.

David heading out onto the run course.

Derek leading the way to the finish.

Sarah running faster then ever!

Setting the Stage

Now that we've had opportunities to have individual meetings with all the athletes and using the motivation and knowledge gained from the Triathlon Canada and Petro-Canada Sport Leadership conferences, I thought it would be a good time to lay out some overall goals and principles for the season. In the coming weeks, I plan on expanding on each of the "principles" outlined below. 

2008-09 Core Principles:

1. Consistency - adopting a consistent approach to training and racing, not just in attendance, but in focus and effort.

2. Detail - taking care of the small things that make up the difference between 95% performance and 100%.

3. Negotiation - or more specifically, non-negotiation - a.k.a. sticking to the plan.

4. Teamwork - working together to beat the rest!

5. Risk - taking chances at the right time and making smart decisions.

6. Nutrition - ensuring that performance is not compromised and hopefully optimized from some basic nutrition principles.

7. Recovery - ensuring that the body is given the time to produce the positive performance adaptations.

In addition to monitoring everyone's individual goals, we will also evaluate our progress against these principles as a measure of the team's success throughout the season. More to come over the next few weeks!!

Sign-Up Now for 08-09

Coach Dan and OREA racing have limited spots available for 15-20 year old triathletes for this season. Both in-person group training (in Hamilton, Ontario) and online coaching options are available. Continue reading or contact Coach Dan for more info.

Training Schedule

• Schedules will be released on a monthly basis. Group workout times may vary depending on coach availability
• There will be anywhere from 2 to 4 weekly group workouts. The type of workout will depend on the needs of each individual athlete (often we may have 2 or 3 different sets all going on at the same time depending on what everyone needs).
• Practices will be geared toward those attending on a regular basis - i.e. we will set the group workout schedule around those who attend most consistently. Workouts are all planned in advance so we need to know who is coming!
• Group workouts will start after October 20.

Fees

• Team Fee - includes t-shirt, workouts and special events: $100 per year
• Coaching Fees - includes start of season meeting, annual training plan, training schedule, race schedule, training logs review, race support (where applicable): $500 per year (October to August) or $50 per month for athletes joining later in the year.
• Family Discount - 20% off total fees when more then one sibling registers.

Racing Round-up

Finally an update from the past two weekends where we've had athletes competing in Ottawa, Orillia, Kelowna and Cobourg ...

On Thursday the 14th, Derek and David raced in the first Ontario Summer Games Triathlon in Ottawa. This race featured the best 16 & under athletes in the province and to make it even more challenging, Derek and David had spent the previous 3 weeks on vacation out west, one of them managing to bring back pneumonia (usually you are supposed to bring back a t-shirt, not an illness Derek!).  came off the bike in 2nd and ended up 7th while David finished 14th. Using the performance ranking points, Derek and David both had their 3rd best ever non-drafting bike splits in Ottawa.

 

Up next, John raced in the Subaru Series event in Orillia. John paced a good effort throughout the race with no real weak parts - the swim, bike and run were all close in effort. This strategy was enough to win the Junior Men's division while coming in 22nd overall. This weekend John will look to improve over the same 750/30/7 distance in Guelph Lake.

On the same weekend, Anita & Gina Demczuk along with Natalie Wilkinson travelled out to Kelowna, BC for Age Group Nationals. Anita finished 11th overall in the Sprint Nationals Triathlon, finishing 1st in 18-19 age group. Natalie, on a very last-minute trip decision, finished 10th in her age group in the sprint race, earning her a Worlds spot for next year's Championships in Australia. Gina competed in the highly competitive Olympic distance race, finishing 13th in her age group.

Finally, this past weekend, Derek and Ang (coached by CT at the PTC) raced the sprint triathlon at the Multisport event in Cobourg, Ontario. Derek had a great race, leading from start to finish to win the event overall. Sister Ang nearly matched this effort, winning the Junior Women's race and finishing second overall.

August Long Weekend

Over the long weekend, we had athletes racing in Owen Sound and PEI. Owen Sound served as Provincial Olympic Distance Champs and is a World's qualifier for 2009. Here are the team's age group results:
- Andre Simon: 6th in Men's 20-24
- Simon Gabsch: 8th in Men's 20-24
- Coach Lee: 4th in Men's 30-34
- Anita Demczuk: 1st in Junior Women
- Gina Demczuk: 5th in Women's 20-24
- Natalie Wilkinson: 19th in the sprint distance race.

Heading east, John Rasmussen joined Coach CT's road trip to race a National Junior Series race in PEI. John had an excellent swim before having a small crash in T1! Unfortunately this caused a bit of a back injury but John was able to finish in 21st overall and 8th Ontario athlete. In the Junior Women's race, OREA member and PTC athlete Angela Quick, had a great race finishing 6th overall and 2nd Ontario athletes across the line.