Instead of putting on a cape, Whitfield takes off his visor with less than a kilometer to go and fires it into the crowd. He then runs down a gap between himself and 3 of the top triathlon runners in the sport, hammers right through them and grabs the race by the throat. With absolutely nothing in the tank he holds onto silver for the gutsiest live sports performance I have ever seen.
The gold medal winning men's 8-rowing team had a great quote: "The medals are awarded in the summer but earned in the winter." Some of the training Whitfield & Co. do is all about that: http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
You gotta put it on paper...
Rule number 1 in Goal Setting is the title of this post. As the adage goes, if you want something to happen than you have to write it down. Since deciding to do this race almost a year ago, I have been wondering what kind of time I could/should be shooting for.
In all honesty, it is a scary question. The moment you answer it, an extra piece of accountability is added to things. Far easier to keep it unanswered or at the very least the answer to yourself. But life is far too short for that. I always knew I'd have an answer because as Rule #1 dictates: you gotta write it down...Rules 2 and 3 are ensuring the goal is specific and it is achievable.
So while finishing will be an accomplishment it is important for me to shoot for something more specific - something specific like 10.5 hours.
There you have it. 1) Written down. 2) Specific. 3) Achievable? We will see...
In all honesty, it is a scary question. The moment you answer it, an extra piece of accountability is added to things. Far easier to keep it unanswered or at the very least the answer to yourself. But life is far too short for that. I always knew I'd have an answer because as Rule #1 dictates: you gotta write it down...Rules 2 and 3 are ensuring the goal is specific and it is achievable.
So while finishing will be an accomplishment it is important for me to shoot for something more specific - something specific like 10.5 hours.
There you have it. 1) Written down. 2) Specific. 3) Achievable? We will see...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
August 5, 2008
Hard to believe the August long weekend is already behind us. The Olympics start this week, the Blue Jays are out of playoff contention, teachers and students are counting down the days until the first bell rings, and I am now inside three months to Ironman Florida.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
$22,000!
That is where we are. With out target efforts now achieving 220% of our goal, we have raised the stakes. Our new target is:
$50,000!
Go hard or go home right?! To help us achieve this, we are holding a Family Fun Day at Brampton's Chinguacousy Park. With a bunch of stuff to do, prizes, BBQ etc. it will be both an event of celebration and appreciation. There will be much more coming on this but please keep SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH open on your calendar.
There is a group of very dedicated and committed people working on getting us to the big 5-0. It will be a fun 3 months.
TRAINING UPDATE
Training and racing this season have been going well. This past weekend I did the K-Town Triathlon, which was my last scheduled race until the big dance in November. It was a solid outing building on the 1/2 Ironman I did in Peterborough a few weeks ago. After improving my time in Peterborough by over 20 minutes I was excited, motivated and completely prepared to really race Kingston hard. My plan was to race the swim hard and hopefully stick with a fast group so I could get on the bike course and let’er fly like I did in Peterborough where I had my fastest ever bike split regardless of distance. Hopefully I would have enough gas in the tank to hang onto the run.
So I did get into a fast group for the swim but one in which I probably shouldn’t have been in. I had to work too hard and realized that as I got to the turnaround and then out of the water with my heart already racing and not a lot of time gained, this race was going to hurt. The bike was much the same although the crosswinds proved to be challenging for everyone. Out on the run I focused on keeping my legs turning over and was able to reel some people in. When it was all said and done I was happy with my race and the lesson learned that trying to rev up too early does not lead to getting time in the bank but rather just a painful day of racing!
I plan on providing more frequent updates as things get closer to November. The kind words, emails and encouragement I have been getting as Racing for SickKids gathers steam has been awesome and humbling. I would be lying if I didn't say the thought of others knowing what we are building towards wasn't a source of energy and motivation when I am hurting the most in my races and workouts. Thank you!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
$22,000!
That is where we are. With out target efforts now achieving 220% of our goal, we have raised the stakes. Our new target is:
$50,000!
Go hard or go home right?! To help us achieve this, we are holding a Family Fun Day at Brampton's Chinguacousy Park. With a bunch of stuff to do, prizes, BBQ etc. it will be both an event of celebration and appreciation. There will be much more coming on this but please keep SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH open on your calendar.
There is a group of very dedicated and committed people working on getting us to the big 5-0. It will be a fun 3 months.
TRAINING UPDATE
Training and racing this season have been going well. This past weekend I did the K-Town Triathlon, which was my last scheduled race until the big dance in November. It was a solid outing building on the 1/2 Ironman I did in Peterborough a few weeks ago. After improving my time in Peterborough by over 20 minutes I was excited, motivated and completely prepared to really race Kingston hard. My plan was to race the swim hard and hopefully stick with a fast group so I could get on the bike course and let’er fly like I did in Peterborough where I had my fastest ever bike split regardless of distance. Hopefully I would have enough gas in the tank to hang onto the run.
So I did get into a fast group for the swim but one in which I probably shouldn’t have been in. I had to work too hard and realized that as I got to the turnaround and then out of the water with my heart already racing and not a lot of time gained, this race was going to hurt. The bike was much the same although the crosswinds proved to be challenging for everyone. Out on the run I focused on keeping my legs turning over and was able to reel some people in. When it was all said and done I was happy with my race and the lesson learned that trying to rev up too early does not lead to getting time in the bank but rather just a painful day of racing!
I plan on providing more frequent updates as things get closer to November. The kind words, emails and encouragement I have been getting as Racing for SickKids gathers steam has been awesome and humbling. I would be lying if I didn't say the thought of others knowing what we are building towards wasn't a source of energy and motivation when I am hurting the most in my races and workouts. Thank you!
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