I finished the TTF on Sunday and although the trip might have been more enjoyable with some friends, it was definitely an awesome experience. We stayed at the Westin hotel, which was gorgeous, ate at the old spaghetti factory Saturday night for dinner and got to experience the sports expo they had going on. This, all on the side of a great race course. It wasn't a very spectator friendly race in terms of the transition, swim and bike, but the run course, especially the finish, allowed for loads of spectators. It was really cool riding on the Gardiner and getting to see the junior elites go in the other direction in their respective packs. I only wish I could've drafted. The wind on the way out was brutal, but the course was flat and basically and out and back so I was still able to enjoy hammering the way home. I guess I'm kind of all over the place in this blog so here is a quick recap.
There was no swim warm up and the bike warm up would have only been possible on the busy streets of Toronto so I stuck to a short ~15min run WU with drills and a couple strides. Since there was so many people, the race started in waves and once we got into the water we had to sit there and tread water for 4 mins before starting. Treading water wasn't so much of a concern as the temperature though. It was absolutely freezing!! Even the quebecois in front of me were freezing their feet off so bad that some violent vocabulary came out (can't say I wasn't ready to scream some out myself). For the first time in a race, right after the gun I found myself behind a large group of people and they quickly got away. I wasn't used to sighting with so many people in front of me and since my goggles fogged up (probably because the lake was so cold) I was a little all over the place. My swim was alright and I'm satisfied with it since it didn't feel very fast. The transition came up onto some metal stairs and then into the large parking lot. I had a little trouble with my helmet since the strap was flipped around so I lost about 10-15 seconds there. Otherwise, it went well considering how long we had to run with the bike (and uphill too!). One issue that I keep having is my damn shoe strap coming out of the loop and me having to fix it on the bike! It happens almost every time so I really need to get that figured out. Like I mentioned, the bike was hard on the way out, but much better on the way back because of the wind. I got passed by a ton of people though so I definitely need to get back on the bike and build my strength back. After a second long transition (less problems this time around), I went out onto the run feeling much MUCH better than I did in Timmins. I came out of transition just behind a few guys but I didn't want to blow up so I just settled into my pace and kept the legs moving. I'm not sure if I slowed down or if some faster guys came up behind me, but I got caught by 2 guys at the turnaround so I decided to hang on to their feet for as long as I could. It ended up working pretty well because we caught one guy, then dropped another who we were running with and we ended up only being 2, but the remaining guy had slightly more speed so he slowly dropped me. Near the end I worked hard to catch this guy in a bright green shirt and ended up out kicking another guys down the finishing chute. I also ended up puking immediately after crossing the line but it was worth it to know I gave 100%. I finished with an overall time of 1:14:28 (or was it 29) and was very pleased with the time considering my fitness. My place however was very disappointing. I was hoping to make world's but I can 13th in my AG and 123 overall which is ok, but the race ended up being much faster then expected.
Guess that wasn't really "quick" was it? Oh well, those were my thoughts on the weekend. My knee started acting up again (go figure after increasing mileage AND training through a race to race 2 weekends in a row), but it isn't too bad yet and I have chiro tomorrow to get things sorted out. Now I finally have some time to focus on proper building and get this injury straightened out. That's all I've got for now and possibly for another little while so,
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Tuesday 23 July 2013
Wednesday 17 July 2013
And the ghost is clear!
Yes, I said ghost. My knee injury has been haunting me since I was still at school and it is finally gone! I had another chiropractor appointment today after work and the doc said he couldn't find any signs of scar tissue. He said that if anything feels off, to go see him right away so we can prevent any future damage, but from here on in it's back to the grind. Coming off that injury smarter, I think I now know the importance of properly building a base, listening to your body and going easy when you need to. I have a long build ahead of me but I also have a full year to do so and I am looking forward to the days ahead. A couple months from now I will be back in school and injury free and it will be like nothing happened (besides a loss of fitness of course). I am racing in Toronto this weekend, which I am super pumped and nervous for, but the training is going to have to stay on the easy side to make sure I don't over do it. I basically trained through the Timmins Triathlon and realized that I am completely out of shape, which the results showed, so I will have to be patient. Can't express how excited I am to be fit to train again and I couldn't have done it without the help of Dr. Mike Poplovic (hope I spelled that right) from Timmins Chiropractic and without the support from my family, friends and of course, my coach Buddy Green. Hopefully, now that I can finally get back into the swing of things I will update this blog more often.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Sunday 14 July 2013
And so it begins...
The Timmins Heart of Gold Triathlon. It was my first full triathlon and it was 3 years ago today. I was doing my workouts on my own time and coming up with them myself. I'd just bought a road bike and a race suit and was hardly in shape to do well, but I did it. I finished the hardest race I'd ever done and as awful as it felt, I was addicted.
I've done a few tris since then and although some might begin to consider me as experienced, I beg to differ. Today was just as hot as it was 3 years ago and no easier. Because of my injury I've been training so little that I just wasn't ready. To put it into perspective, this week was the first week in about a month that I've done the full required distance (20k bike and 5k run). I should mention that these distances were in workouts earlier in the week. Unfortunately, this reflected largely in the results. My swim seemed to have gone well. I think I came out of the water 2nd or 3rd (as an individual) in a time around 11 or 12 minutes. Pretty good for someone who has been swimming easy once a week for a month and a half. Now the bike. The bike felt decent and although I knew I wasn't going to have the strength for the hills and the wind I still did alright. My lead on the swim was enough to stay near the front on the bike, only being passed by 3 or 4 people the entire bike. I finished the bike in just over 40mins (course is about 21km) so I was happy with that as my goal was to sub 40mins for 20km. Now the run.... No ifs, ands, or buts about it, I was completely out of shape and not ready in any way for the run. The sun definitely made me feel like I was in hell, but I don't think it affected my horrible performance. I ran somewhere around 27mins for the run, putting me at a total time of 1 hour and 22mins which is the slowest race I've done to date. Slower even than my first ever triathlon which was 1 hour and 20mins. As disappointed and discourage as I am, I'm still hanging on by a thread and that thread is the knowledge that there was nothing I could have done to have a better race.
I'm supposed to be racing in Toronto next weekend for the Toronto Triathlon Festival and things aren't looking so good as far as my chances for qualifying for worlds. That being said, I've got to remember that my focus at the time of signing up for that race wasn't only to qualify, but to act as motivation for what's to come. I have a long, hard road ahead of me and it isn't going to be easy. Even as I sit here defeated, my focus hasn't changed since the past few months. It won't be about getting faster for Toronto next week, for Lakeside in September or even for any races within the next year, it's about coming back 100% healthy, and be fitter and stronger than ever. Sometimes life gets you down and no matter how hard you try, failure seems to be the only result, but in life, in all walks of life, there is only one group of people who succeed, and those are the ones who never give up.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
I've done a few tris since then and although some might begin to consider me as experienced, I beg to differ. Today was just as hot as it was 3 years ago and no easier. Because of my injury I've been training so little that I just wasn't ready. To put it into perspective, this week was the first week in about a month that I've done the full required distance (20k bike and 5k run). I should mention that these distances were in workouts earlier in the week. Unfortunately, this reflected largely in the results. My swim seemed to have gone well. I think I came out of the water 2nd or 3rd (as an individual) in a time around 11 or 12 minutes. Pretty good for someone who has been swimming easy once a week for a month and a half. Now the bike. The bike felt decent and although I knew I wasn't going to have the strength for the hills and the wind I still did alright. My lead on the swim was enough to stay near the front on the bike, only being passed by 3 or 4 people the entire bike. I finished the bike in just over 40mins (course is about 21km) so I was happy with that as my goal was to sub 40mins for 20km. Now the run.... No ifs, ands, or buts about it, I was completely out of shape and not ready in any way for the run. The sun definitely made me feel like I was in hell, but I don't think it affected my horrible performance. I ran somewhere around 27mins for the run, putting me at a total time of 1 hour and 22mins which is the slowest race I've done to date. Slower even than my first ever triathlon which was 1 hour and 20mins. As disappointed and discourage as I am, I'm still hanging on by a thread and that thread is the knowledge that there was nothing I could have done to have a better race.
I'm supposed to be racing in Toronto next weekend for the Toronto Triathlon Festival and things aren't looking so good as far as my chances for qualifying for worlds. That being said, I've got to remember that my focus at the time of signing up for that race wasn't only to qualify, but to act as motivation for what's to come. I have a long, hard road ahead of me and it isn't going to be easy. Even as I sit here defeated, my focus hasn't changed since the past few months. It won't be about getting faster for Toronto next week, for Lakeside in September or even for any races within the next year, it's about coming back 100% healthy, and be fitter and stronger than ever. Sometimes life gets you down and no matter how hard you try, failure seems to be the only result, but in life, in all walks of life, there is only one group of people who succeed, and those are the ones who never give up.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
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