Recharge with Milk Triathlon Series

Recharge With Milk Triathlon Series - September 2011

Just 2 Tri Series Weekends Left PLUS the Wasaga Beach 5K and Half Marathon

What an incredible season we've had so far but unfortunately Old Man Winter will soon be upon us and we'll all be plugging through our trainer workouts hoping for the start of another new race season. The good news is that there are two more races left in our series. Wasaga Beach (September 10), and Lakeside (September 17 & 18). The bad news for some is that at the time we went to press all races in Wasaga Beach were sold out and there were only a handful of Oympic Distance Tri and International Distance Du spots remining for Lakeside.

If you are racing in Wasaga Beach or live nearby why not join us on Sunday September 11th for the 5K and Half Marathon running races! All of the information is at www.runmsc.com. These running races are both on flat and fast courses, perfect for a new PB. I hope we see you there.

This September edition of the newsletter features our latest series updates, sponsor deals, helpful training articles, a story from our recent trip to Challenge Roth, and more. As always, feel free to send any articles to mscnewsletter1@gmail.com.

Series News

2012 Challenge Roth - YES we are going back!

The inaugural MultiSport Canada/Healthy Results trip to Challenge Roth in July was a huge success. As a result, we will be heading over to Challenge Roth in 2012 and we would love to offer you the opportunity to take part in this World Class event, which just happens to be the biggest Iron Distance triathlon in the World.

The MSC/HR Team has a total of 20 spots available and about half of the spots for the 2012 trip have been taken. Remember, less than 24 hours after this year's Challenge Roth, the Challenge Roth 2012 race sold out.

Visit here for all details regarding the trip. Spots are limited and are going fast.

If you are considering this trip and need more details please email John or email Rich and we can arrange a phone call to give you more information.

MSC's 2011 Trip to Challenge Roth

On the inaugural MultiSport Canada/Healthy Results trip to Challenge Roth many of the athletes came out with personal bests and awards, and while those are great accomplishments (we’ll touch upon those later), the trip was memorable for a host of other reasons. Read about this years trip in last's months newsletter.

Check out this highlight slideshow put together by Richard Pady, which shows all of the fun we had this past July.

Triple Race Challenge Culminates at Wasaga Beach

The Triple Race Challenge wraps up with the Olympic Distance Triathlon at Wasaga Beach so the racing is bound to be outstanding. If you raced at the Welland Half Iron Triathlon and the Bracebridge Olympic Triathlon, you are eligible to contend for the cash and prizes. Find out more about the Triple Race Challenge here. A pdf file of the standings heading into the final race is here.

2011 Series Points Standings Posted

Find out your position in the 2011 Series Points Standings as we head into the final two races. Please note there will be some adjustments to the Toronto Island GT 12.9 standings. We have published all of the standings to date based on the information provided by Sportstats.

2011 Overall and Masters Winners - Olympic Distance Triathlon, International Du and Half Iron Races

Starting in 2011 the overall male and female winners of every Olympic Distance Triathlon, International Distance Duathlon and Half Iron Triathlon and Duathlon races will be receiving a Brooks jacket just like this one. We will also be awarding this jacket to the Masters Triathlete winners (45+) in these races. The Masters Triathlete category will be males and females 45+. Click on the picture to the left for a larger version.

Design A Race Site and Win $3,000 - Is it that easy?

One of the most difficult things to do is find a good race site. In an ideal world all transition areas would be 25 metres from the swim, the bike and the run course, the roads would be smooth and have no cars on them. The reality is this does not happen because these and so many other factors must be taken into consideration when designing a race course. Very often we have to make do with the best case scenario, without compromising athlete safety. For us there are also some criteria that are non-negotiable, such as ensuring we find race sites with good water quality.

Over the years we have had many suggestions on how to improve various race sites and we thought some of you would like to know what goes into developing a race venue and perhaps even take on a challenge. If you think you have that "perfect" race site, and it matches the criteria we use in looking for a site, you could be rewarded for your suggestion. We don't want people wasting their time so there are two steps to the process. First, all you need to do is send us your race site selection using the criteria on our Find A Race Site page. We will assess the preliminary suggestion and, if we feel it has potential, give you the go ahead for step two, where you will complete all of the required criteria. Once you have done that and, if your site is chosen, we will pay you $3,000 CDN and give you a full season of racing (value of up to $750). Even if you do not have that ideal site you might be interested in some of the high level criteria used in selecting a race site. Check out the Find A Race Site page.

Season Long Draw and Triple Race Challenge Prizing Update

Gears Bike Shop has confirmed that they will be donating a Felt B16 bike, retail value of $2,500 to the to the Season Long Draw Prizes. In the Triple Race Challenge Du, Tri and Run has confirmed they will be adding a $400 bike travel box, an Aero helmet and a couple of pairs of running shoes. Full details on the helmet and shoes will be announced later this month. One of the great things about these MultiSport Canada specials is that we can add prizing all season long. Please visit these webpages if you are not familiar with the Season Long Draw or Triple Race Challenge.

2011 MultiSport Canada 100% Canadian Clothing

Over the past few years we have had quite a few people suggest that we have Series clothing. With the addition of Brooks to our sponsors we are now able to offer MultiSport Canada clothing. For those of you who would like to see the clothing before buying, we will have a supply of each at all races and you will be able to order them or purchase on the spot depending on quantities available that weekend. If you are interested in ordering online there is a sizing chart below. Please determine your size and then download the PDF Order Form below. We can ship your clothing or bring it to the next race. Details and the Order Form are on our new clothing web page.

If you have any questions please call Jan at 705-835-3255 or email Jan

MultiSport Canada is The Largest Canadian Owned Triathlon Series in Canada!

We are very proud to announce that going into season ten MultiSport Canada is now the largest "Canadian owned" series in Canada. We would like to thank all who have raced with us and supported the series.

Sponsor Deals for MSC Racers

Gears Has Two Specials for MultiSport Canada Customers

GEARS, a proud supporter of MultiSport Canada and the many athletes who participate in the events throughout the year, wants to help get you ready for your training and your next race. Through the remainder of August, GEARS would like to offer “Race Ready Tune-Ups” at 50% off the regular price (Regular cost $60 – for the remainder of the month of September, 2011 MSC Customer price $30).

In addition to the “Race Ready Tune-Ups”, for the remainder of September, GEARS would also like to extend an in-store credit coupon valued at up to $500.00 with the purchase of any road or tri bike we have in stock at any GEARS location (Port Credit & Toronto). Please see store for details.

To take advantage of these great offers just take this Special Gears-MSC pricing Code to the store: Gears-MSC-Sept2011

GEARSBIKESHOP.COM
888.98.GEARS

Computrainer Summer Sale Ends on September 15th

One CompuTrainer at $1549 ($100 savings) + 1 Free Real Course Video

One CompuTrainer at $1649 + 3 Free Real Course Videos

Take advantage of our Summer Sale and spend the Winter training like the Pros. CompuTrainer is Guaranteed to increase your bike speed by 10%

The Sale Runs from August 1, 2011 Thru September 15, 2011

0% interest Deferred Payment Plan

Available on Phone Orders ONLY

$395.00 down for U.S. Orders ($450.00 down for Canada)

+ 12 monthly payments of $92.00 or 108.00.

1-800-522-3610

Training Articles

Make Tomorrow’s Workout Better Today: Recharge With Chocolate Milk

Hello Race Fans. As we are now half way through race season, we wanted to let you know that we have begun to upload footage from some of the earlier events to our website (http://www.rechargewithmilk.ca/event-videos.php?WT.mc_id=rwm11-EM-MultiSport). That’s right, the Recharge with Milk TV Crew has been filming at all the races for you to see, so be sure to check them out online. We want to continue to be apart of your journey in achieving your personal best by helping you make tomorrow’s workout better today.

As always, we want to wish you luck in your upcoming races and remind you to get your free chocolate milk sample at the finish line. Just look for the Recharge with Milk TV Crew at the finish line.

Several studies suggest that chocolate milk may be the ideal post-workout recovery beverage, especially when consumed within 30 minutes of intense physical activity.1

Chocolate milk provides the optimal carbohydrate-protein combination that aids in the quick recovery of muscle tissue and replenishes electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, lost through sweating.1 It’s also low in fat and contains about 85% water.

During a workout, your muscles use stored carbohydrates (glycogen) as energy. As the glycogen gets used up, it becomes harder to continue exercising at a high intensity.

Studies suggest that a beverage containing protein and carbohydrates – such as chocolate milk – may be as or more effective as a post-workout recovery beverage than a sports drink that contains only carbohydrates.1-3 Studies also indicate that drinking milk following resistance activity may encourage muscle gain and fat-loss.4-5

So the next time you finish a high-intensity workout, reach for chocolate milk. It could be the key to getting the most out of your next day’s workout!

For more information about post workout recovery, visit us at RechargeWithMilk.ca

______________________________________________o_________________________________________________

1. Karp JR, et al. Chocolate milk as a post-exercise recovery aid. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2006;16(1):78-91.

2. Williams MB, et al. Effects of recovery beverages on glycogen restoration and endurance exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res 2003;17(1):12-19.

3. Niles ES, et al. Carbohydrate-protein drink improves time to exhaustion after recovery from endurance exercise. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online 2001;4(1):45-52.

4. Hartman JW, et al. Consumption of fat-free fluid milk after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accretion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young, novice, male weightlifters. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;86:373-381.

5. Wilkinson SB, et al. Consumption of fluid skim milk promotes greater muscle protein accretion after resistance exercise than does consumption of an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic soy-protein beverage. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1031-1040.

Keep Your Training Interesting

In this video Richard Pady talks about some of the things you can do this Fall to keep things interesting, improve your weakness, and to avoid burnout.

The Perfect Race

By Rick Hellard of Zone 3 Sports

The inspiration for this article came from more than a few conversations that I have had recently with people expecting everything in a race to go smoothly and were surprised that it did not.

We all know the phrase “practice makes perfect” so it stands to reason this also applies to racing. No matter how many swim/bikes or bike/runs or time trials you do, there is nothing quite like race day to change things around and throw curve balls your way. The more races you do, the better you get at dealing with fast balls, curve balls, knuckle balls and screw balls.

The perfect race is very rare, and this applies especially to triathlons where so many things can affect the outcome. In fact, I live with a math teacher, and she calculated that the perfect first race of the season is very to the 10th power rare. The perfect 2nd race of the season is very to the 5th power rare, and the perfect 3rd race is very squared rare. In the 4th race of the season, you have a good chance of getting mostly everything right, but be thankful for it and do not expecting of it.

Back to the practice makes perfect saying.

Naturally, the learning curve for each of us is different. I make the same mistakes 3-4 times before I learn my lesson (just making sure it’s not a fluke, one way or the other—yeah, that’s it that’s why I do it). These learning experiences start with your first races, but they also re-start with your first race of every season. The more seasons you go through, the shorter the curve so it takes less and less time to get things right each year.

In my opinion, a reasonably good range of race experience would constitute 30 races of varying distances and courses. This will give you a very good range of course profiles, logistics and quality. Honestly, less than that and as another saying goes, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Certainly, those that have less than 15 races under their belt still have a lot of experiences ahead of them. Those with less than 10 are still newbies as far as I’m concerned.

My main point of this article is that you should not expect great races all the time. Do things right and try for them, but don’t expect them or be disappointed when they do not happen--stay calm and move on.

If You Were A Pro

By Derek Virgo of Team Running Free

Perhaps, if you were a pro, you would train like one.

You would wake up early from a 10-hour sleep and eat an extremely well-balanced first meal of the day (probably advised by a dietician who specializes in nutrient intake for athletes).

You would do this before beginning your first of several daily training sessions under the guidance of one or many coaches.

Perhaps you would have a nap in the middle of the day before completing your afternoon & evening training. Perhaps your nap would last nearly 2 hours.

And maybe, just maybe, you’re daily hour of recovery would be spent under the hands of an athletic therapist, or a massage therapist. This would surely speed your recovery from hard training, and allow you to return to the same daily regimen again tomorrow.

If you were a pro, you would most likely train like one.

But there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you’re not a pro…

Professional athletes don’t usually read what I write. I wish they did, but I’ll be the first one to admit it; they have little reason to.

I am an age-group triathlete myself, nothing more… And by day, I work full time as a strength and conditioning coach in a high school.

Daily, I remind students that quality of training trumps quantity of training. Period.

There are plenty of examples I can use with students to prove this point, but they’re rarely required. For the most part, they get it.

Last year at the Lake Placid Ironman I was literally stunned to read about the number of hours the average Ironman finisher claimed to log in a week. 24!

Was I reading that right? It was nearly double the amount I had allowed myself to do on average!

I envisioned three possible scenarios for the outrageous statistic:

1. A vast majority of the tens of thousands of individuals surveyed were liars…

2. More than half of the athletes surveyed were professional triathletes…

3. The average Ironman finisher completes far too much meaningless training…

I was not a triathlon coach. I had completed 8 shorter triathlon races myself before making the trip to Lake Placid, and I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t say I began to doubt myself. Should I even be here?

Sometimes we allow ourselves to get caught up in the very same mentality as the young (and much more competitively spirited) high school student athlete.

Suddenly, a quality focus toward training loses its value, replaced by the urge to log more hours, more laps, more miles…

I won’t deny that numbers can be extremely helpful when analyzing the big picture of your training load, but they can also be completely insignificant.

Let’s not get carried away with the wrong numbers.

If we were professional athletes, yes, we would train like professional athletes. But since we’re not, let’s operate within reason.

When we find more time and energy for things that go beyond training (family, leisure, sleep), we often see an increase in the quality of work when we are training.

Despite a reduction in overall volume, these increases in quality commonly turn into better performances and better results.

Swim Faster Now

With the season quickly winding down, many of you are looking forward to a break before you start to train for the next triathlon season. The fall and winter months are perfect times to improve your swimming technique. Over a period of 6 weeks, you can make about 4 to 6 changes in your stroke. That means between October and December you can give your freestyle a pretty solid overhaul.

By learning how to achieve balance in the water through a series of progression drills which we teach at our 1/2 day clinics, you can make critical changes to your swim that will make you swim faster, smoother and use less effort. By learning how to effectively kick, a swimmer can learn how to develop a hip driven stroke which is great for swimming longer distances from 400 metres and up.

Throughout our clinics, we teach swimmers how to achieve balance in the water and how to effectively use the hips to generate maximum force without wearing your arms and shoulders out. The results of this process have been amazing. From beginner level to elite level triathlon, masters swimming and competitive swimming, all swimmers are finding their stroke efficiency improving up to 30-50% in as little as 3 hours. Many swimmers are finding that the number of strokes they are taking is decreasing and their speed is increasing by placing regular emphasis on the technical side of swimming.

Most swim programs emphasize training for more metres and improving time intervals on a regular basis. This often results in injury or just getting worn out from over training. At Swim Faster Now, we teach all swimmers how to train technically correct. When an emphasis is placed on proper technical training, a swimmer doesn’t have to slug out high mileage to get the results. With learning the proper technical approach, our swimmers are finding they have more time and energy to put into their bike and run, leaving them with faster race times year in and year out.

In October we have a clinic (maximum of 10 participants) for the beginner to intermediate level on October 16th 2011 from 9am-12pm. In November we have a clinic on Sunday November 13th from 9am-12pm for beginner to the intermediate level.

Our clinics take place in Oakville Ontario, just west of Toronto. As well, we offer private one on one classes for those that want the best. Earlier this year we opened our new river pool at our main location, which allows the swimmer to train in one spot with a current of water that adjusts to the speed of the swimmer.

For more information, please visit our website at

www.swimfasternow.com

or call us at

1-888-380-SWIM

Athlete Profiles and Special Stories

Race Report: Cobourg Sprint Duathlon

By Phaedra Kennedy - 1st Place Female at the Cobourg Sprint Duathlon

I had been contemplating doing the Cobourg Sprint tri for a few weeks but I’d been so busy that I didn’t really have time to sit down and register. I kept putting it off and then when I tried to register on Thursday afternoon, the online registration was closed but Gary (Kennedy) told me I could register at the race. One less worry. I was still undecided as to what I was going to do; the tri or the du. I hadn’t done much swimming in the last couple of weeks and I hadn’t done ANY open water swimming since my last tri in June. I guess you could say I was leaning towards doing the Du. What officially sealed it for me was seeing the Multisport Canada Facebook update on Friday that said the water at Cobourg had turned over and was sitting at 58 degrees. Ummm yeah, I’m out. No way I’m getting in THAT water. So the Du it was.

I felt so much more relaxed knowing that I didn’t have to swim. Funny how that is. I was still excited and nervous but I wasn’t anxious, which is a nice change for me. We got to the race site, racked our bikes and I went to find the registration tent. I got through registration very quickly and went to set up my bike. I had lots of time to spare so I took my bike out for a spin to check that my gears were working fine and then I did a nice little warm up run and stretch. I was just about to leave transition to go over to the start when I realized that I had forgotten to take my helmet out of my bag and put it with my bike! I grabbed it out of my bag and put it on my handlebars. The triathletes were just getting ready to head down to the water so I found Gary and kissed him good luck. He wished me luck and said, “Go out and win it”. I laughed and said “Oh I don’t know about that”. I definitely had a podium spot on my mind but not an overall win.

I get to the start and patiently wait, seeding myself slightly behind the first row of runners, and checking out the competition. It’s a small group and I don’t see too many ladies in my AG. In a duathlon the age groups run in 10-year increments whereas in a triathlon they run in 5-year increments. So in this race ladies that are 45-49 are actually lumped in with the ladies in my age group. I think it’s probably because less people tend do to duathlons vs. triathlons. And that’s probably because they’re freaking HARD.

With a triathlon you at least get a “break” from the pounding during the swim. Don’t get me wrong, open water swimming is not easy either, it’s just a bit easier on your body (for the most part, although I’m sure the folks that raced in today’s freezing cold water would disagree). In a duathlon, you pound the crap out of your legs on the run. You then hop on the bike and pound the crap out of your legs again, using slightly different muscles mind you, but it still hurts. Then, you have to run AGAIN. No easy task I tell you.

The first run was 5km which is great because I wanted to see how fast I could do a 5km. So I ran like I didn’t have to ride. Hard. There were 2 women in front of me and by the first km I had passed them both. I actually ended up passing several guys as well. I wasn’t sure but I thought I was in the top 10 when I got into transition. I knew my run was 21 something but I didn’t know exactly as I didn’t really look at my watch. I was too focused on how much pain I was feeling in my legs. Official time: 21:28

I grabbed my bike helmet, put it on, yanked off my shoes, grabbed a GU Roctane and pulled my bike off the rack. As soon as it hit the ground, the back wheel dragged. CRAP. I stopped and fiddled with it, tried to spin the wheels around and it stuck. ARG. I bounced the back wheel off the ground and then it seemed to release. Off I went, hoping that I hadn’t lost too much time in T1 Official T1 time: 1:28. Not good.

I got on the bike knowing that my legs were not going to want to work. I wanted to ease into it but that’s impossible when you’re being chased down. So I rode as hard as I could manage. I was passed by several guys, which is not surprising, especially given the fact that I can count the number of times I’ve ridden my bike this year on 2 hands. I hoped that I had enough of a lead from the run that I could hold off any stronger cyclists. I had no idea where the other women were until I hit the 10km turn around. At the turn around I saw another woman coming fast. The bike course is a tough one, at least on the way out. It’s got some good rollers and a couple of short steep climbs. I figured the way back would be a lot easier. I hammered as much as I could on the downhills, getting into a full roadie crouch when I stopped pedaling. I thought I might be able to make up some time descending and keep the approaching rocket on the bike at bay. Unfortunately she caught me with 5km to go. She blew by me like I was standing still. All I could do was try to keep her pink top in sight. Which I managed to do. I crossed my fingers and hoped that she wasn’t a very good runner. 2.5km is not a lot of ground to cover to make up time. Bike: 42:43. Needs some work!

I rode up to the dismount line with one foot unclipped already. I hopped off my bike and ran into transition. I couldn’t quite find my spot and was a little discombobulated for a second. I spotted my day glo Newtons and made a bee-line for the rack. I racked my bike, pulled off my bike shoes, slipped on my running shoes, removed my helmet, grabbed my hat and ran out of transition. The hunt was on. T2 time: 55 seconds.

As soon as I got out of transition on to the road I spotted the pink top. She was about 400-500 m in front of me. Game on. I was dying at this point. There was lactic acid running through my entire body. My breathing was ragged and I just wanted to stop. I actually thought about slowing down because I figured even if I slowed down, I might actually still get second. Then I thought, “Are you nuts? Would you be happy with second if you dogged it?” Hell no. Suck it up and get running. You can DO THIS. So I pushed harder. My heart rate was somewhere in the mid 180’s. I started reeling her in. Just before the 1km mark, I caught her. Yesssssssssss. I congratulated her on a great bike and she said she wasn’t much of a runner so I figured I was probably going to be ok. I hit the turn around and didn’t look back. I figured I gapped her enough to be safe. I saw Gary and held up my index finger to signal number 1. He said “Way to go, but don’t get cocky, there’s someone right behind you!” But I knew I was going to be ok. I was moving. I was sucking wind big time at this point but I had to leave it all out on the course. As I ran towards the finishing chute I heard some people in the crowd say, “It’s the first place woman!” Then there were lots of cheers and “way to go girl”. I am pretty sure I was grinning at this point. As I ran into the finishing chute, I threw my hands in the air and yelled “Wooooohoooooooooo!” as I crossed the finish line.

First place woman overall. First time I’ve ever won anything outright. Final 2.5km run 10:57.

Overall time 1:17:18. I was 14th overall. Only 13 people were faster than me and they were all GUYS.

I’m still smiling. And to top it all off, Gary ended up second place in his age group so we both ended up on the podium!

Not a bad way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning.

2011 Simcoe Shores Ultra Distance Relay Recap

The 2011 Simcoe Shores Ultra Distance Relay was a resounding success. Approx 250 runners, on 25 different teams, took the trails of Barrie early Saturday morning and wound their way through Orillia, Coldwater, Midland, and Wasaga; eventually arriving in the Town of Blue Mountains at lunch time on Sunday.

The winning team, Cocky Swagger from Toronto, did not let scorching heat, pelting rain, or even lightning get in their way. However, they did let traffic slow them down a bit before the race. With only an hour left until the start, they were sending panicked text messages to Race Director Stacie Smith saying that they may not make it.

“I loved the fact that they were about to run 240km but Toronto traffic was stressing them out” said Smith. “I’m from Toronto and given the choice I would have run the extra 100km to the race start rather than battle weekend traffic heading out of the city!”

Regardless of one team’s difficulties, all of the other Simcoe Shores teams arrived ready to run at Barrie Heritage Park early on Saturday morning. Over the next 20+ hours these teams travelled through some of the most spectacular scenery in central Ontario including the shores of Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay and the elevation of the Niagara Escarpment.

“I don’t think our top two teams had time to look at the scenery,” said John Salt, Owner of MultiSport Canada. “There was an epic battle for the lead between Cocky Swagger and Longboat Lightning. We had no idea who was going to win until they crossed the line – that’s unheard of in a two-day race!”

2011 RESULTS

Overall:
#1 Cocky Swagger – 16 hours, 20 minutes, 27 seconds
#2 Longboat Lightning – 16 hours, 24 minutes, 21 second
#3 Malden Park Runners – 18 hours, 4 minutes, 16 seconds

In the Mixed category (coed):
#1 Driven Athletics – 19 hours, 52 minutes, 11 seconds
#2 BKB – 20 hours, 4 minutes, 52 seconds
#3 Meaford Coyote Running Club – 20 hours, 19 minutes, 34 seconds

Women:
#1 Longboat Maidens Run The Shore – 19 hours, 50 minutes, 25 seconds
#2 Sole Sisters – 23 hours, 59 minutes, 48 seconds
#3 Sole Sisters II – 25 hours, 28 minutes, 5 seconds

www.simcoeshoresrelay.com

MSC Radio - Athlete Interviews and Course Profiles

Make sure to visit MSC Radio to hear some great interviews with many of our race winners and other interesting athletes racing in our series.

You can listen to Phaedra Kennedy and many more great athletes here at MSC Radio.

Also catch our race profiles/descriptions from VP & Operations Director - Jason Vurma.

Camps, Clinics & Other Events

Train In The Cold or Hawaii...hmmmm

With racing season nearly over and winter on the horizon, Ontario triathletes turn to a vexing but important question: how will I maintain fitness in the off season?

Lots of indoor work – swimming, bike trainer, spin class, treadmill, weights – is, of course, the traditional answer to that question. But this year, why not consider another possibility: a winter training camp. Even better, why not consider a training camp in paradise: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, the “mecca” of the triathlon world. Kona weather is superb all year, and is perhaps at its best in January and February when there are few other options.

This is the choice that a number of athletes made last year thanks to a new opportunity created by two Ontario families, who have set up a house right on world famous Ali’i Drive specifically designed to meet the needs of triathlon groups.

This year a number of camps are being planned, including a repeat of last year’s “Ten with Tony”, run by Tony Frost, a four time Canadian age group champion in the Olympic distance and twice age group winner of Ironman Canada. This particular camp is geared primarily for more advanced triathletes who can handle 10 straight days of big volume training, capped off with a Half Iron distance race run by Kailua-Kona tri club Team Mango. Dates for the camp are Feb 6-15, 2012.

The house, known as Pineapple Hale, features 4.5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and sleeps up to 12 people. With an Endless Pool, secure bike storage and a variety of other amenities for triathletes, the house isperfect for both official coach-led training camps as well as for families and friends who are looking for a more relaxed blend of vacation + training. Swimming with dolphins and manta rays is still swimming!

For more information email mike.peerless@siskinds.com or visit http://www.pineapplehale.com

I had the opportunity to train with Tony and the group last year and can tell you this is an incredible location and home. If you want to go there to train then you can walk out the front door and onto Alii Dr for a run, are only a 10 minute drive to the 25yd pool in Kona, and the biking routes are fantastic! Whether you are there to train, just have a holiday or a little of both I can atest to the fact that the house is beautiful and has enough space that a group can go together and have a very affordable trip to Hawaii. I highly recommend Pineapple Hale - John Salt, MultiSport Canada

Take Part in the G&M Hospital Challenge at Wasaga Beach

The Wasaga Beach Triathlon is the Southern Georgian Bay region’s biggest triathlon that will take place on Saturday, September 10, 2011. During this incredible event participants will ride the picturesque shores of Wasaga, swim the fresh water of Georgian Bay and run beach area terrain in a variety of race formats. If you are signed up for the Wasaga Beach Triathlon become part of the G&M Hospital Challenge, the money you raise will go directly to the G&M Hospital Foundation. The hope this year is to raise $90,000 to buy new equipment and technology for the G&M Hospital’s Emergency Department. Your contributions will help ensure the medical team is equipped to meet the needs of patients that require urgent care.

Create your own webpage and ask for pledges from family & friends at www.cgmhf.com click on the triathlon button, or do your part by sponsoring an athlete. The foundation will return registration fees to participants who raise $1,000 or more!

For details contact Anna Benedict, Annual Giving Coordinator, at the G&M Hospital Foundation benedicta@cgmh.on.ca.

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.