2018
I’ve developed a tendency where at the end of each season I only look at the negatives and then to address these negatives I just assume that if I train harder I will get better and faster, no exceptions. This winter I feel I have done a much better job at taking positives from the previous (2017) season, however also addressing my weaknesses in a more appropriate manner and truly looking at them and finding proper ways to improve upon them. Mentally I have never been happier in the sport, mainly due to the people I have surrounded myself with. I live in a house full of triathletes (one of whom will be competing in the 2018 commonwealth games), I do my swim training with the schools varsity swim team which I’ll get into more of later, and I can always link up with another athlete for a bike or run when I’m searching for a training mate. As well, since developing my caffeine addiction I’ve found a much better balance in terms of school life and training, which I struggled with a bit in my first year at University, mainly in first semester. Coffee has come in hand and been used pretty much every day to keep me going and focused both in training and when studying, and has simply helped me be more time efficient mainly in terms of school, due to my increased ability to focus and stay focused because of it (also coffee tastes good and makes me feel more cultured when I drink it). Also, I find living off-campus has been really good for me this year, as it provides a proper and much needed switch off from school when I head home, whereas in first year when I lived on campus it felt as though I was somewhat trapped and always surrounded by school even when I wasn’t doing school work. Now I’ll talk a little about my 2017 triathlon season and changes I’ve made this winter in my training regime.
This year of racing was full of huge wake up calls and made me realize what changes I must make to hopefully be at the level I feel is possible for myself one day. These wake-up calls were noticed mainly by me seeing way more guys in spandex ahead of me than I wanted, whether that be bike packs getting away from me (me essentially being dropped) or guys running through me, this theme occurred too often and is certainly something I need to address. However, there were many positives that came out of the 2017 season, mainly in the latter half where I was finally producing some decent runs off the bike and slowly gaining confidence in that I can be catching guys versus just trying to stay away from the chasers. On top of this I was happy with where my swim was at in most of my races, but my biggest area for improvement is my front-end speed, which in draft legal racing is very important as often your position in the water is decided in the first 200m or the distance to the first turn buoy, and if you don’t have good start speed it’s going to be a tough day if you want to make lead pack, at least in a competitive race. To address these weaknesses, I have made some big changes in my training that I am hoping will pay off in the 2018 season. The biggest change being joining the swim program at the school I attend (University of Guelph). My main reason for joining is to work on my front-end speed, to get stronger both in and out of the water by keeping up with the weight/dryland program that is set out, but to also just swim with people who crush me everyday in training and from whom I can learn from. I find that, at least for me personally, the easiest way to get faster in the water is to swim with people who are better than you, and already my swimming has improved, and I hope the trend continues. As well, the dryland and weights that we do about three times a week will help to play an important role in simply making me stronger and more durable. A huge problem for me has been not being able to put out huge power on the bike for example or just hitting the run off the bike and having my legs feel like gummy worms. Now obviously these weaknesses aren’t just because of me not being strong, but that is a contributing factor and when addressed I feel will help towards aspects such as these in my races. So, I’m very excited to see hopeful gains in many areas of my racing through simply getting stronger and more powerful by following a set routine throughout the winter/off-season. In terms of my biking an running, I am still being coached by James Loaring and will be working with him and a few other athletes throughout the winter to be fully prepared for what’s to come.
My 2018 race schedule has not been made yet, but I plan to make a rough schedule over the Christmas break. I hope to do an early season race in February or March, but that will have to be based around school and midterms. Other than that, the bulk of my races will likely be from April to September. I look forward to the season ahead and am ready more than ever to put in the work.