Family Day in the Park

I have some pictures coming, but until I post them let me simply say the day could not have been any better planned, executed and supported. For an event to go off as successful as this there is obviously a ton of work that takes place in the background - in this case I even knew about some of it.Rebekah did an unbelivable job co-ordinating a wonderful group that were able to reach out and tap a number of family members, friends, and businesses in the community to make the day so well. The weather was fantastic (I was not expecting a sunburnt nose) and everything else went off without a hitch. A great time for all...

Most importantly, the day raised $15,000 and brings our total to almost $40,000! All I can say is wow and thanks to all who have supported us.

Training Update

Things have been rolling along nicely. I have been as consistent, injury free and generally spot on as I could ever expect given all of this is some kind of crazy hobby. The work is getting done; as it has for the past few months. I am generally happy where things are at. Today was another 7hr workout day with over 6 hours on the bike followed by a run. This was on the heels of a 3hr ride with short run last night which itself was on the back of 2.75hr done solidly at my race pace on Thursday night. Chewing through this kind of stretch at this phase of things with solid energy - both physical and mental is great for confidence. I have another big week ahead and then volume begins to get tapered back. While volume is reduced, intensity and the number of workouts themselves stay relatively consistent. The lower amount of volume allows time to recover but by keeping intensity and the number of workouts unchanged, fitness is maintained and your body stays on the same kind of schedule it has become accustomed to. The icing on the cake...(mmm, icing...after the race I already have a list of fast food meals I have put on hold the last few months.)

Family Day at the Park in Support of Racing for SickKids!

On Saturday September 20th, Family Day at the Park will be held at Chinguacousy Park in Brampton. In what promises to be an awesome day there is a ton of stuff going on that you can check out. See the attached flyer.

Thus far we have been blown away with the support we have received in terms of volunteers, donations, and sponsorship. We are still in need of a few things so if able to help please let us know!

We have made some fantastic progress on our new $50,000 target that we hope to share and would love for you to be apart of it.

We will be there – RAIN or SHINE. So we hope to see you there. Like the celebrations in Beijing we will be doing what we can with weather focused rockets to control things as best we can. No detail is too small.

Tickets are $10 and include a BBQ lunch and games. To purchase tickets or get more information, please call Rebekah Helwig at 905.796.5032 or Betty Turzer at 905.678.2511 x227.

9 Weeks

Labour Day is here and only 9 weeks until Ironman Florida. Training has gotten to the point I now simply describe it as ‘nutty’ to people and offer as little detail as possible as the amount of time dedicating to getting fully prepared does border on the ridiculous. The 5 and 6 and 7-hour workout days are now upon us. I am feeling as good as I can be. This weekend has actually been a nice rest with “only” a 3 hour bike ride on Saturday and a day off yesterday that we managed to enjoy in Muskoka. Back to reality today however…just found out I need to get in a 2hr run and some strength work. Not only is it now hot out but among other things the lawn needs cutting, gardens need weeding, and garage cleaned. Toss in the obligatory weekend work and reading that comes home with me Friday and I better type fast here as it already past 10:30. All is great however, I ALWAYS remind myself that if my biggest problem in a day is figuring out how to "play" and get that 2hr run in, my life is SUPER blessed! Gotta run.

Super Simon

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/

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...

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!