MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series

MSC Triathlon Series Newsletter - June 2010

The Season Begins on Saturday

With the start of a new season this coming Saturday at Woodstock, we have also introduced a new way that you will be receiving our monthly newsletter. We think the new look is real slick but most importantly you can now quickly see what areas of the newsletter interests you, and with the click of a mouse you will be taken directly to that section. It is as simple as that! If you are viewing this from the MultiSport Canada site, you can do the same (without the descriptions) by clicking through the Table of Contents. Enjoy this edition of the newsletter and we hope to see you this weekend at Woodstock. As always, feel free to send me any articles at hosspro@hotmail.com.

Make sure to check out MultiSport Canada Radio for course descriptions, athlete profiles, and post-race interviews.

Safe and happy training,

Roger Hospedales
MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series Newsletter Editor & Podcast Producer

Series News

Season Opener at Woodstock

You still have time to register for our season opener at Woodstock. You will encounter no weeds during the swim, along with a fast bike and run. Visit the event page for more information. If you are new to the sport or need a refresher on race day preparation, make sure to visit our Training Resources page for helpful hints.

Introducing our newest sponsor - Ryders Eyewear

Ryders Eyewear is on board as the official eyewear of the MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series. Based out of North Vancouver, British Columbia, we are excited to have this Canadian company supporting our series. Ryders offers a wide range stylistic, functional eyewear that is perfect for triathlon, and all at a variety of affordable pricepoints. Look for the opportunity to win free pairs of Ryders Eyewear at each race with our draw prizes. Check out their website at www.ryderseyewear.com

Order Infinit today and save

Train with the exact same beverage that will be available to you at our races. Order your Infinit RUN, RIDE or REPAIR formulas at www.multisportcanadadrink.com today and save money by having it delivered to you on race day!

Triple Race Challenge Prizes

We have added a few more prizes to the Triple Race Challenge prize pool. The first race of the Challenge takes place on Sunday June 27th in Welland. Check out all of the details and prizing here.

Awards Five Deep For Larger Age Groups

Starting this year we will be awarding the personalized picture awards to the top five (5) finishers in races where there are more that forty (40) athletes in an age group.

Bala Falls - Junior Triathlon Sport Development Award

Starting this year, MultiSport Canada will be annually awarding a Junior Triathlon Sport Development Award in memory of Lisa Hamann and the history of the Bala Falls Triathlon. This $500 award will be presented to a local sports club to help offset membership fees for one of their young members. Amazingly, due to the generosity of some of the participants and founders of the first Bala Falls race, this year award will be $1000. Read more about the eligibility criteria, donation information, and other details of the award here.

2010 Volunteer Information

Events like ours cannot happen without volunteer support and we are already looking for volunteers to help at our 2010 events. Why volunteer? It is fun, you can give back to the sport and your fellow competitiors, and we offer some other great incentives. We offer: donations to support community groups or sports teams that volunteer at our events, High School (and Grade 8 Grads) can earn volunteer hours toward their required 40 hrs, FREE racing for young (high school and university) athletes in exchange for volunteering, entry discounts to racers who help recruit volunteers. Helping us recruit volunteers in your local community does not preclude you racing at your local triathlon. If you think you could recruit 8 - 10+ volunteers for your local triathlon, or would like to volunteer, drop us an email at volunteers@multisportcanada.com and let us know.

Exclusive Offers to MSC Racers

Book of the Month - The Runner's Edge

By Stephen McGregor, Matt Fitzgerald

Controlling your pace during races

While it’s obvious that a speed and distance device can be used for monitoring and controlling your pace during races, you need to use your device somewhat differently in races of different distances, and you must avoid succumbing to the temptation to rely on it too heavily.

First, before you race, try to get a good sense of your device’s specific degree of accuracy. Most devices are inaccurate by a consistent degree in one direction—either too long or too short. Test your device on measured courses whenever possible to determine its pattern. Races themselves afford some of the best opportunities, but be aware that it’s actually normal to run approximately 0.5 percent too far on certified road race courses because these courses are measured by the shortest possible distance a runner could cover in completing it (that is, by running every turn and tangent perfectly), and nobody ever does that.

Pacing During a 5K

If your device model has an option to display the average pace for the current lap or run, set the display in this mode before the race starts. If you’re running a 5K, ignore your watch for the first several hundred yards, when it’s crowded and your main priority is to find a rhythm. Once you have found your rhythm, take a quick glance at your average pace. It almost certainly will not match your target pace for the first mile, but that doesn’t mean you have to actively speed up or slow down. Just absorb the number you see, think about it in relation to how you feel, and let your gut tell you how to adjust.

Sometimes this early quick glance can save the day. When adrenaline gets the better of you and you start way too fast, it gives you the chance to rein in your legs and save your race before it’s too late. If you waited until the first mile split to discover your mistake, it would be too late. On the other hand, if you start way too slowly, the quick glance at your average pace may remind you that, in fact, you are not working as hard as you could be, and you have an opportunity to speed up before you’ve dug too deep a hole to climb out of. But most often that early, quick glance will merely confirm that you’re more or less on pace.

Pacing During a 10K

When running 10K races, do the same early glance at your average pace as soon as you’ve settled into a rhythm and adjust, if necessary. After that point, ignore your device (but pay attention to your mile splits) until the second half of the race, during which you should check the device whenever you find yourself worrying that fatigue is causing you to slip off your goal pace. The benefit of doing this is that it almost always motivates you to run harder, no matter whether the display tells you that you’re right on pace, have fallen a second or two per mile behind pace, or are ahead of pace. The only circumstance in which it’s likely to be demoralizing is when you’re having a bad race and have fallen far behind your target pace. In these circumstances, you’re going to end up demoralized anyway.

Pacing During a Half Marathon

Half marathons are long enough that your mile split times become almost meaningless after you’ve run several miles and brain fatigue has crippled your mathematical faculties. So don’t even bother paying attention to your splits after 10K. Instead, glance at your average pace at each mile mark to check whether you’re still on track toward your goal. As in 10K races, this type of monitoring is likely to keep a fire under you—there’s just something about chasing numbers that makes us work harder!

Pacing During a Marathon

In the marathon, all measures taken to control your pacing with objective data go out the window after the halfway mark. You have to run by feel. But properly controlling your pace with objective data in the first half is critical to setting yourself up for success in the second half. The marathon distance is just too long for your anticipatory regulation mechanism to make reliable decisions about how fast you ought to be running in the early miles. Instead, rely on setting an appropriate time goal and target pace and check your speed and distance device as often as necessary to ensure that you stay on this pace through the first half.

While a speed and distance device certainly can help you pace yourself more effectively in races, it is no substitute for your body’s built-in pacing mechanism. While this mechanism is poorly developed in beginning runners, it is highly refined and more reliable than objective pacing controls in experienced runners. If you are ready for a breakthrough race performance, your anticipatory regulation mechanism will tell you so by causing you to feel better than anticipated as you proceed through the miles. It would be a mistake in this situation to trust your pacing plan and your speed and distance device more than your body and resist the urge to run faster. Likewise, on those days when you just don’t have it in a race, you need to heed your body’s message of unexpected discomfort and run slower than planned instead of stubbornly persisting at your target pace only to suffer a disastrous bonk late in the race.

This is an excerpt from The Runner’s Edge.

Regular Price Book: $20.95 (Canadian dollars)

Special Multisport price = $15.71

Regular Price ebook: $18.95 (Canadian dollars)

Special Multisport price = $14.21

Order online today and save 25%! Use Promo Code X791 when ordering

(offer valid until July 1, 2010 on Canadian orders only; not combinable with any other offers)

Discount Club at Gears

Take advantage of the special prices available to MultiSport Canada customers. It is easy to get your discount. When you go to the store ask for Kevin Wallace or Ira Kargel and they will make sure you get the discount applicable with the product you are buying. Every Wednesday is The Gears/MSC discount day with 10% off most items in the store. Download the Discount Card or call the store (905-271-2400) and ask for Ira or Kevin for details. Discount Club details.

Accommodation Partners

We have been able to arrange for special room rates at more of our races. Please contact our Accommodation partners and ask for the MultiSport Canada special room rates at our races. More information is on the individual event pages. Click on the logos below to get more details about the individual hotels.

Best Western Suites Rose City in Welland

Special rate of $105 per night

Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Bala Falls

Rate varies by weekend

Special room rate of $139 for MSC athletes.

Normal rate of over $200 per night.

Woodstock and Lakeside

The Quality Hotel and Suites

Special rate of $103.99 per night

Best Western Cobourg

MultiSport Canada rates starting at $119.00

If you would like to submit content to the newsletter, please send items to hosspro@hotmail.com

Ask the Coach

Our coaching panel of Nigel Gray, Chris Pickering and Richard Pady will eagerly answer your questions each month, please keep sending your questions to hosspro@hotmail.com.

Question: "I just got my first bike with aerobars. However, I am a bit hesitant to ride on the bars. What can I do to get over this fear?"

There is no secret to learning to ride a triathlon bike over any other type of bike. Getting over the initial feeling of awkwardness that is experienced when riding for the first time in the aero position is a simple matter of practice makes perfect.

If you are new to road cycling and are not accustomed to riding a bike with thin tires then this will take you a little longer to get used to. Another factor could be that you are not familiar with having clipless pedals on your bike.

So depending on where you are coming from, here are a few pointers to help make things a little easier for you.

1) Practice clipping in and out of your pedals. You don't even need to leave the house for this one. Put your bike up against the wall, sit on it, and practice clipping in and out with both pedals.

2) Practice your handling skills using the normal handlebars with the brake levers.

Once you are comfortable riding on the bike then you should find somewhere where there is no traffic and no pot holes/road hazards. Practice riding holding on with just one hand while the other hovers slightly above the handlebar. You can then switch to the other side and let the other hand hover. When you let go with one hand you will notice a shift in weight, practicing will make this less uncomfortable.

3) Now that you have mastered clipping in and out of the bike, riding around with the thin tires, and shifting your weight from one hand to the other on the handlebars you should feel much more at home on the bike and with how it maneuvers. Again, find somewhere safe to ride without the bothers of traffic and road hazards, and practice getting into and out of the aero position. This will be similar to riding with one hand as the other arm makes its way down to the aero bars.

4) Finally once you are comfortable with getting into and out of the aero position, it is simply a matter of putting in some mileage and building up some confidence.

Good luck and enjoy the new bike!

Chris

Chris Pickering is a Certified Healthy Results Training Coach, and a partner in Indoorrider.com.

rpady@healthyresults.ca

Question: "I see that many of the pro's have their cycling shoes already clipped onto their bikes at T1. Why? Is this faster? Do you suggest that this is something I should try doing too?”

Having your shoes already clipped into your pedals can make your transition faster as you are able to grab your bike (after putting on your helmet!) and run to the bike mount line and then hop right on your bike. You then pedal with your feet on top of your shoes until you have enough momentum and space to reach down and slide your foot into your shoes as you are moving. But there are a few considerations:

The time saved by having your shoes on your pedals and smoothly executing your transition is worth approx 30-60sec, but if you mess it up (i.e. lose a shoe when you run with your bike, can’t get your foot in your shoe once on your bike, fall over trying to get your foot in your shoe!) you will lose a lot more time than you gain.
So if you want to leave your shoes on your pedals you need to practice over and over again until you get it right!
You will need the right type of shoe, a single strap that you can slide your foot into quite easily, if you have buckles on your shoes it’s not really worth trying this technique.
Long Course athletes – most Ironman’s and many Half Ironman races don’t allow age group athletes to have their shoes left on their bikes
If you are a competitive short course athlete this is a skill that will save you time in transition and 30-60sec can make a significant difference at the end of the day. But this is a skill like anything else and needs to be practiced over and over again in order to do it right and gain that benefit.

Nigel

Nigel Gray is Head Coach of NRG Performance Training, with over 12 years of coaching experience from beginners to Elite athletes.

nigel@nrgpt.com

Training Articles

Hydration 101

By Infinit Nutrition founder, Mike Folan

What is the single biggest issue I see with the age groupers I work with? Normally it is from the athlete trying to do too much, we see that over and over. They are drinking their product and happily munching on gels and blocks and wonder why they feel like they ate a bag of nails after 5 hours.

Here is the issue. Over the past couple of years I have seen a trend. Athletes have no idea exactly how much they should be drinking in order to stay hydrated. It is a HUGE component of how you will perform. If you lose 2-3% of your body weight in water loss you will lose 5-15% of your watts (power output). For an athlete that weighs 150 pounds, only a few pounds that will make the difference between a solid result and potential disaster.

Salt does not prevent dehydration or cramping. That is the stuff of urban legend. Salt is a transporter of fluids. You need salt, but only enough to move water out of your gut into your system. The movement of water is the key to prevent dehydration and possibly cramping issues. If you are not drinking enough, I don’t care how perfect your formulation is, you might be in for a long day. For most males the target should be around 375 mg of sodium per hour and females around 325 mg. It should be a blend of electrolytes containing sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. To reiterate, salt is a transporter. You don’t have to overdue electrolyte intake. You only need enough to move the liquids you are putting into your system.

There are two things that you must have in order to train and race efficiently. DO A SWEAT RATE TEST! How are you going to know how much you need to be drinking if you don’t have a handle on how much you are sweating? Remember, no product in the world is going to prevent you from dehydrating if you are not drinking enough. Your hydration target will vary somewhat depending on the heat and humidity, but this is a crucial component to race day performance.

• Before your workout empty you bladder, and record your weight
• Record how much you drink during the workout
• After the workout, re-empty your bladder and re-weigh yourself
• Take the weight you lost, ADD the amount you drank, then divide by the number of hours you worked out.

That will give you an hourly hydration target. I would do it a few times to have an average. Your hydration target will need to be adjusted somewhat for heat and humidity. But this is key information for performance.

Calorie and electrolyte intake (in a form that is isotonic). Most athletes perform better by not overdoing calories and salt. Rule of thumb is 2 calories per pound of lean body weight. Obviously some people need more and some people need less. Long distance racers typically need more calories per hour than sprint racers. But these are solid starting points based on working with thousands of athletes.

So there it is. With those these small pieces of information you can have a great race.

• Know how many calories per hour you need
• Know how much you need to be drinking per hour
• Put your nutrition in a form that is isotonic

It does not have to be complicated. Remember simple and repeatable. Follow those simple steps and you will perform the way you want with no nutritional issues.

Order your official race course recovery formulas at multisportcanadadrink.com today and we will deliver it to you on race day! Simply pick up your order at the Infinit Nutrition booth and save on shipping.

Beyond VO2max

The efficiency and economy of movement to run faster and cycle stronger

By Zach Weston MSc CK, MBA, Certified Kinesiologist and Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist

Faculty Member, Department of Kinesiology, Wilfrid Laurier University

VO2max represents the maximal amount of oxygen your muscles can use for aerobic metabolism. Oxygen consumption is linearly related to energy expenditure and is expressed as a rate typically as Litres of oxygen per minute or milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weigh per minute.

As we exercise muscles convert stored macronutrient energy (carbohydrates and fats) into a useable form of cellular energy called ATP. Oxygen is required to convert these macronutrients into ATP and as a muscle contracts vigorously or frequently the demand for ATP and oxygen increases. Within muscles we have small organelles called mitochondria to create ATP. Elite endurance athletes have more mitochondria in their muscles to accomplish higher levels of sustained intense efforts.

What limits VO2max

In the untrained person, the VO2max will be limited by utilization or the ability of the muscle to use oxygen. This is due to the limited concentration of mitochondria within the muscles. In trained endurance athletes VO2max is more often limited by oxygen delivery. Mitochondrial rich muscles have ample capacity to work aerobically in well trained endurance athletes, however the cardiac output which is a function of the maximal heart rate and stroke volume reaches a plateau. Maximal heart rate will gradually decline with age (although 220-age is a very inaccurate method of determining maximal heart rate) and stroke volume, which is the volume of blood pumped each heart beat, typically reaches a plateau with long term training due to contractility and functional dimension constraints of the heart chambers. The issue is considerably more complex than I am describing here and also includes mechanisms to regulate and control for blood pressure and cerebral (brain) blood flow.

Why efficiency counts

The vast majority of your VO2max or aerobic energy is used for homeostasis or the management and preservation of your body and to overcome internal and external friction. As a result the mechanical efficiency of most human movements is typically only 20-30%!!! This means 70-80% of your effort is directed towards activities other than propelling you or your bike forwards. VO2max is a critical measure for endurance athletes and determines the effectiveness of training programs and progression through periodization cycles. Endurance athletes should have a VO2max evaluation 1-3 times annually to evaluate training and metabolic plus biomechanical efficiency to optimize performance.

How Efficient are your movements?

Economy to an athlete means exactly the same thing as economy to you as you drive your car: the ability to do a certain amount of work using as small amount of energy as possible. Just as you want to conserve gas in your car, you want to use a lower percentage of your VO2max at a given cycling speed or running pace.

"I would say that economy is one of the single most important determinants of success at the elite level of road and off-road cycling," says Jay T. Kearney, Ph.D., Senior Exercise Physiologist for the U. S. Olympic Committee. "If two cyclists have similar VO2max profiles, the most economical cyclist will win most races. Even if a cyclist has a relatively low VO2max, he/she can often defeat other cyclists, because he/she may ride at a lower percentage of his/her maximum at any given speed." If two cyclists are riding at the same speed, the more economical cyclist uses less oxygen.

An uneconomical cyclist may need to use 5 to 10 percent more energy than an economical cyclist at a given pace and will work closer to their VO2max than an economical cyclist. Since the physiological strain felt by the body is directly related to VO2max, the economical cyclist will have an advantage. In other words, the more economical cyclist will be able to ride faster while experiencing less fatigue.

Training will improve running and cycling economy. After training and economy has been improved, the oxygen cost for each intensity will be less. In addition to training, another way to improve economy is through biomechanical assessments such as a spin scan analysis which can be combined with VO2 analysis to optimize cycling efficiency (available at Iron Heart Fitness in Waterloo).

To improve your economy you have to improve your pedaling mechanics, learning to pedal smoothly and correctly can help your pedaling be more effective. In other words, improve your pedal force application from top dead center, through the bottom of the pedal stroke. Practice pedaling smoothly and learn how to spin rather than just “pushing” big gears.

Normal pedal force is most pronounced during the power phase of cycling (zero degrees to 180 degrees) and typically peaks between 90 and 110 degrees (shortly after the crank arm passes horizontal). Most cyclists can become more economical by delivering energy to the pedals over a greater percentage of the pedal cycle by "pushing through" at the top and "pulling back" at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Dr. Jeff Broker, biomechanist with the U. S. Olympic Committee points that, "Any increase in force effectiveness in these regions, by all cyclists, and/or during the recovery phase of the pedaling cycle (180 to 360 degrees of the pedal stroke), results in the following: a lower demand on the musculature of the leg in the power phase at constant pedal power or greater bicycle power output (speed) for the same power phase effort.

Other factors will waste energy without propelling the bicycle forward such as holding the handlebars too tightly, breathing high in your chest rather than deep into your belly, using a lot of upper body energy while climbing and riding in a non-aerodynamic position during time trials or break-a-ways will decrease economy. Finally, you can improve your economy by increasing your interval and tempo training. The theory behind this is that by practicing high RPM cycling, you naturally become more economical and relaxed. Once you've trained your body to respond economically at these speeds, it will most likely be even more efficient at the slower speeds during long road races. During ERG training sessions with constant power demands at Iron Heart, watching your instantaneous wattage and aiming to cycle smoothly with minimal fluctuations in watts will improve efficiency.

In the next newsletter I will discuss drills to improve your VO2max. In the meantime if you have read this far you should consider scheduling a VO2max test either on the bike or the treadmill and we can evaluate your efficiency and economy of movement.

Zach Weston has coached several athletes who have won their age group within the MultiSport Canada Series and qualified for the respective World Championships. Coaches at Iron Heart work with all levels of multisport athletes and share a passion for health through fitness.

View Iron Heart services here.

Free Time in Triathlon

By Tyler Lord, www.tylerlord.com

So you have spent countless hours in the pool, days on the bike, tears and sweat running…you are ready to race! You get to the race site early, set up your bike, shoes, put on your wetsuit and you are off! Out of the water you come racing into transition and this is when the fun begins!

Both overall and age group wins are won by seconds. What if you had an extra 20 seconds? You could easily take the win and outkick any competition! I recommend working on your transitions.

Tips:

1. Put some sort of lubricant on your wetsuit and shins so your wetsuit will come off fast. I suggest a product called Body Glide.

2. During Brick sessions take time to learn how to mount your bike with your shoes attached to the pedals. This will give you huge gains on the competition. Also work on dismounting your bike, before the centerline of course. In order to improve both your mount and dismount I suggest marking a line on the road. Then practice running your bike up to the line and jumping on while moving forward. You can use the same line to practice your dismount. Be sure to be off your bike before the line.

3. In transition put a bit of body glide or baby powder in your shoes to get them on fast. I also suggest putting your hat and gels on top of your shoes so you don’t forget them when you run out on your way to a win!

4. No Socks! We are triathletes!

I suggest practicing these techniques at least once a week to become a threat in your age group!

Athlete Profiles and Stories

One + Du = Tri

The Journey of a Duathlete looking for success in Triathlon

By Larry Bradley

In the fall of 2006, I found a new challenge in life. I was searching the internet for a late season event to keep me motivated through the ups and downs of training. I had completed a few running races since I had decided to get my body back into shape (started running in May 2005) after more than a decade of excess but was finding it tough to work out on a regular basis without a target down the road.

I am not sure what pointed me in the direction but during this search I came across a local triathlon site. Leading up to that discovery, I had watched a bit of triathlon on television (the amazing accomplishments of Simon Whitfield at the Olympics, for example) but had never actually seen it in person. Little did I know there was such a huge following right here in my own backyard with hundreds of athletes regularly testing their fitness abilities throughout the summer months.

Due to the fact that I had never really swam in my life (I would not consider keeping my head barely above the water at the beach swimming?), I realistically knew there would be no chance to prepare for a triathlon on such short order.

As I clicked through the pages, I came across the event details and noticed one of the options that caught my attention; a duathlon. I seriously was not aware that this sport was offered at a recreational level in our area. This run/bike/run combination was very intriguing so I set up a running plan and started putting money aside to purchase a cheap, starter bike.

I ended up purchasing my first road bike the week of the race and showed up to the event not having a clue what to expect. Man, that experience was a huge eye opener. Bikes I had never seen before in my life, athletes all kitted out in tight tri suits, crowds of swimmers wading down at the beach…what was I getting myself into?

Looking back, that initial event was simply life changing. Even though I struggled during the final run, due to a lack of experience in nutrition and pacing, I was shocked by the support of passing athletes, volunteers and the fans. Where else would the competition cheer for you and urge you along to the finish line? It seemed like such a positive lifestyle that I knew right away that I wanted to become more involved with the sport. I have been hooked ever since.

Over the past three seasons, I continued to compete in the duathlon trying to grow each season to see how far I could push myself. I lucked out at the start of my first full year as a triathlete enrolled in the sport’s coaching program asked if I wanted to be a guinea pig. I realized I had nothing to lose so, Syd (Trefiak), put a plan in place to help me reach my early goals. Every now and then, during the first couple seasons, he would ask me if I would be taking the plunge into triathlon anytime soon. I always laughed it off saying the water was not in my future.

Deep down inside though, dreams of long course triathlon success started to stir and my list of long term athletic goals soon had Kona written up at the top. This may not happen right away but in order to pursue this goal, I will have to swim.

This blog will document the struggles and triumphs of a duathlete leaving the sport that gave so much during the past three years to start over in multisport with aspirations of making it to the Big Island. I hope you find it interesting and even helpful as you follow my journey into the water.

Happy training,

Larry Bradley

Larry will take us through his journey with monthly newsletter articles, post-race reports, and weekly blog posts.

Triple Ironman for Haiti

Hamilton's Gord Pauls has never shied away from a challenge. He has crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon 10 times. He has trained to swim, run and bike his way through 2 gruelling Ironman competitions. He has helped to establish Canada’s fastest Boston Marathon qualifying course, the “Road 2 Hope Marathon”, raising thousands of dollars for children in Hamilton and Haiti.

But now the 56 year old co-owner of The Runners Den has set a goal for himself that makes all the others pale in comparison.

Gord is suiting up for a TRIPLE IRONMAN this August to raise $250,000. All monies received are tax receiptable and will be used in Haiti to help the poor “climb out of poverty”. This is achieved by implementing sustainable micro-credit development projects.

These micro-credit projects will be developed and managed by Empower Global (empowerglobal.org) a Canadian not-for-profit entity with a proven track record for working with the poorest of the poor, and achieving high impact sustainable results - economically, health wise, and educationally.

In the wake of January’s devastating earthquake, the need for help has never been more real. The need for action, urgent. And that’s why Gord is training. He’ll be swimming 11.4 kilometers, biking 540 kilometers, and running 126.6 kilometers over the course of three consecutive days. All in all, he will push himself for an astonishing 678 kilometers.

His goal between now and August? To find a sponsor for each one of those 678 kilometers. At $370 per kilometer, that $250,000 goal is reachable. But he needs your help. Ambitious? Definitely. Impossible? Not if you know Gord Pauls.

“These people down in Haiti, it’s an Ironman every day for them just to survive,” he says.

For more information, for training updates, and to see Gord in action on video, please check out www.GORDPAULS.com

You can monitor his progress on Facebook by joining the group “Gord Pauls-Triple Ironman Event”.

Camps, Clinics & Other Events

Swim Faster Now

Do you struggle with your swim? Or would you like to swim faster and easier right now? We can help!! At Swim Faster Now we have developed a 6-step system to improved frontcrawl that has benefitted 1000's of people from beginner to the international scene. We cover all aspects of improved front crawl from the secret of effective breathing to body position to easier and faster swimming. Numerous participants have commented to us after their next race how much easier and more enjoyable their swim was. On top of this, most people are seeing stroke efficiency improvements of up to 50% in as little as one session with us.

At one of our recent clinics, a gentleman wrote us after his next swim practice to tell us he had swam 50% further than his best ever practice before in a 1 hour workout. To make sure he hadn't miscounted, he came back to the pool the next day and swam even further!! At Swim Faster Now our goal is to help all participants gain the benefit of fast and easy swimming.

Our next clinic is on June 20th from 9am-12pm, located in Oakville Ontario. For more information or to register, please call us at 1-888-380-7946 or visit us at http://www.swimfasternow.com/

MultiSport Zone - Triathlon Clinics

How often do you get a chance to do a workout with a swim, bike and run --- without it being a race?

MultiSport Zone and their NRCC certified coaches offer triathlon clinics throughout the summer to do just that. The clinics are designed to address athletes of all levels.

The day starts off with an open water swim in which participants choose their training group. One group will do distance swimming; another will work on swim and technique; and another group introduces the newer athlete to open water swimming.

After swim, transition techniques are taught and practiced. Okay, admit it, even the experienced athlete can practice transition!

The bike is next. Just like the swim, different levels of bike endurance and expertise are addressed with three bike groups.

What would a triathlon clinic be without a brick workout? Yes, a run off the bike is the last portion of the training day.

The reward at the end of the training day is a delicious BBQ featuring lots of fresh salads and fruits. The triathlon clinics use INFINIT as the sport drink – same as the drink featured at all Multisport Canada races. All NRCC certified coaches are available at the BBQ to answer any training questions.

Upcoming dates for the triathlon clinics are as follows. For more information or to register please visit www.multisport-zone.com, or call (519) 685 6600.

June 26th Pinery Triathlon Clinic

July 31st Port Stanley Triathlon Clinic

September 11th Lakeside Triathlon Clinic

Happy Training from the MultiSport Zone Team!

Please Support our Sponsors

We extend our thanks to each and every sponsor. Race entry fees never cover the complete cost of a particular race or series of races and without the sponsors there is no race or race series that would survive without their support. We hope that you all take a moment to check out our Series Sponsors below or visit the sponsors page and see what they do and look at the products they sell. Please thank them for supporting the sports of Triathlon and Duathlon by trying and using their products. If you do visit them please take a moment to thank them for supporting Triathlon, Duathlon and Kids races in Ontario.

Thanks To All Of Our Sponsors

We extend our thanks to each and every sponsor and the local bike, running and triathlon shops in the communities where you race. Race entry fees never cover the complete cost of a particular race or series of races and without the sponsors there is no race or race series that would survive without their support. We hope that you all take a moment to check out our Series Sponsors below or visit the sponsors page and see what they do and look at the products they sell. Please thank them for supporting the sports of Triathlon and Duathlon by trying and using their products. If you do visit them please take a moment to thank them for supporting Triathlon, Duathlon and Kids races in Ontario.

MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series

We are extremely grateful to have the support of our sponsors. Please support all of our sponsors. You can visit their website by clicking on their logo.