Oceanside 70.3

First off I have changed my twitter handle to @swift_T_Reid.

Having just completed my third 70.3 race the training is coming together nicely. 

I spent a few days in Poway before the race getting ready for a big effort. On race morning I was very nervous and had a hard time getting down my breakfast, but I kept telling myself that it was just another race and lets see what I can do. I drove down to the race in my rental car. Somehow, I managed to get a Dodge Charger. 

Not sure how, but let's just say that I got to the race a little early… vroom vroom.  

I had a good warm up in my Nineteen wetsuit and was able to get in the water about 10 min before the race. I lined up in the water to the left side because it was the shortest line and I had Trevor Wurtele just to my right. But the bulk of the field went to the left. I had a clean start to the swim and got into a good position. I was moving around finding the right feet. At about half way through the swim a small gap opened up and I could not close it. For the rest of the swim I slowly saw the lead group pull away and just at the end the next group caught me. This was a great swim for me. A PB at 24:44.

It was a long run to our bikes and once I settled in on my Cevelo P3 I was able to get onto a good rhythm, making sure I did not go to hard at the start. I was able to catch a few people on the bike and only had two people pass me -Jessy Thomas and Lionel Sanders (the Green Flash). As Lionel went by we had a quick chat and cheered each other on. A huge thank you to Lionel for giving me a new helmet the day before the race. My old pink one could not rival the Canadian Louis Garneau. I brought up my effort a little as he went past and got a little motivated. I had talked to Trevor before about the bike course and he said that I should save a little for the last 30km when it flattens out. I just kept waiting for the last 30km thinking I have to save it for the last bit and thank goodness I did. The hills were a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to get out of the arrow position. I had to make sure I did not go over 315w on the hills though which was hard to do. I came into Transition very relaxed and ready to run. I held about 277w for the 90km. Not my best, but very close.

Out on the run Barrie and Paulo were giving me feed back as to where I was in the race. I started the run in 10^th place with 3 guys about 45 seconds up the road. I knew I had to catch them slowly, one at a time. There were a few very steep short climbs that I had to be careful on. I had to make sure I did not push the up or down the hills too much.    

It was still a long run. In the first 6km I had moved up into 8^th place and all I could think was "I am in the money now lets see how much I can make". At about 8km I passed 7^th place, but my foot started to go to sleep. I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had injured myself, and wondered what do I do; do I pull out? But then I said "to hell with it, just keep running it is not getting worse". I put it in the back of my mind and ran faster. On the second lap I was able to overtake 6^th place. At the final turn around I saw that Trevor was dangerously close. I just put my head down and said "legs you have to go faster". I went to a very dark place in the last 4km. It was worth it, to finish 6^th place, with the 4^th fastest run and a huge running PB of 1:14:01 in my Saucony Type A5 

 Full results at Ironman Oceanside 70.3. 

To top the week off I singed on to be a Compressport Ambassador. Looking forward to recovering like a pro.

Huge thank you to: C3, Kinetico, Royal Containers, Caledon Hills Cycling, Cervelo, Saucony, Nineteen, Awake Chocolate, Compressport and my parents.

Next race is the Pro North American 70.3 Championships on May 2nd in St. George Utah. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the resistance.

#TaylorTime

Las Olas Race

It was very nice to get down to Florida for the start of my season at the Las Olas International Triathlon in Ft. Lauderdale. It has been a very cold winter in Ontario, so I have spent most of my time on the treadmill and trainer, staying out of the cold. I felt that I was ready to start off with an Olympic distance race, and in fact it was a bit shorter- 1000m swim, 34km bike and 10km run.

The day started early. I got up at 4:30am to get ready for the race. I like to get up about 3-4 hours before the start of the race to wake up. I drove down to the site and had a good warm up. As I stood in the starting area about 4min before the start, I remembered that I had forgotten to turn on the video camera on my bike. This was too bad, but with it being the first race of the season I was glad that the camera was only thing I had forgotten. It had been very windy and choppy in the water the day before, but on Race Day the Ocean was perfectly calm water and winds were only 5kph.

I lined up and waited for the gun to go off. BANG! And the race was under way. I hit the water and started to swim hard, with the first turn 100m away. I turned the corner and saw that the main group of 5 was 15m ahead. I knew I had to get in that group, so I pushed hard and turned my arms over. Once I got in the group I settled in and found some feet to follow. I could see Cameron Dye and Kaleb VanOrt ahead. As we turned the last buoy we headed into the beach exit, I saw the leaders get out about 50-75m head. Once I hit the beach I scrambled onto land and dashed towards T1. I was able to come out of T1 at the head of our group.

It was a 2-lap bike and I was close to 3 other athletes. I did not have my power meter so I was working with heart rate and cadence (my power2max had stopped working about 1 week before the race and I had to send it back to get it fixed). On the first lap, Santiago Ascenpo passed me and I stayed behind him, holding a gap of 15m. As I came to the end of the first lap Jacob Rhyner passed me and Ascenpo started to pull away. I had kept my heart rate at about 170bpm on the first lap. As we did the second lap I had to move around many age-groupers but they did not get in the way. As I prepared to dismount I was in a group of 3 people with Rhyner in the lead. My heart rate had come down on the second lap and I was prepared to run hard.

I knew that T2 was going to be very important - I had to get out fast and put on the pressure right away. I led the group of 3 on to the run. I also knew that I was sitting in 4th, racing for money and trying to get on the podium. I heard that Ascenpo was 40sec ahead and I could see him. I quickly unclipped my heart rate monitor while I was running so I could breath freely. Over the first 2km I gapped Rhyner, but he caught up to me at 4km. Now I had to keep focused on 3rd place and run my legs off on the second half of the run. As I started the second loop I was able to run away from Rhyner. I kept on the gas and could see people starting come back to me but I just did not have the speed to take 3rd place. I finished with a 4th place finish and a great run.

This was a great start to my season and I am now getting ready to race in Oceanside 70.3 on March 28.

  

Swim: 13:38 (5th fastest swim)

Bike: 47:21 (6th fastest bike)

Run: 30:06 (2nd fastest run)

Huge thanks to the Grumans how put me up in there home.

Thank you to Kinetico, Royal Containers, Nineteen Wetsuits, Caledon Hills Cycling, Cervelo, Saucony and Awake Chocolate for all the support leading into this race.

Nick Names

I have had a few different nicknames throughout University. Here are the ones that stuck:

T Bone:
T Bone was the first one that stayed around. Reed Coolsaet felt that the McMaster XC team needed at T Bone and I was given the honor.

The Mole:
This nickname started in Tucson where Andrew York and John Rasmussen decided to give it to me. Essentially one day on a ride I was having a hard time reading the road signs. So they decided to call me The Mole from that day forth. The joke is that I did not see my way around but smelt my way. 

Hill Folk/Hill People:
This is the most prominent nickname given not only to me, but to my whole family. Back at home in Caledon my family’s house is on top of a hill that overlooks the forest and a swamp. Andrew York felt that hill folk was an appropriate name. It is used to explain and justify a lot of my habits. This includes my height - the reason for me being shorter is so that I can run through the woods more efficiently. John also took the liberty to make me a Twitter account with that name.

The Hill Folk Family

 

 

Training day Video

Rachel and I put together a training day video.

#TaylorTime

Cruise 40min run in the morning.
5200m swim in the middle of the day.
35min tempo at the end of the day.
Lots of fun plan to have more up int he future.

Cake of the Month 'Training Camp'

This months cake theme was training camp. With winter all around us in Canada we end up thinking about the nice sunny swimming, biking and running that we could be doing down south. Keeping with the hot theme, Rachel and I put together a Smoked Paprika and Chocolate Cake.

Recipe:
Ingredients For the Cake:

• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp Urfa chilies
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/4  cups strong brewed coffee

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Line two 8 inch pans with oil
3.  Combine all ingredients except for flour and coffee into a mixer bowl.  Using the whisk attachment put on speed 2 and mix until the batter is shiny and everything is incorporated.  Alternately add flour and coffee a cup at a time starting with the flour. When everything has been added, scrape down sides of bowl and mix on speed 3 for one minute.
4. Pour contents into prepared pans and bake for 55 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool.

Ingredients For the Icing:

• 1 lbs butter (room temp)
• 2 lbs powdered sugar
• 1/2 Table spoon milk
• 1/2 table spoon vanilla
• 1/4 tsp  each: sweet paprika, salt, black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cocoa

 To make the icing:  Whip butter on high for 5 minutes.  Scrape sides and repeat.  Add powdered sugar a cup at a time with mixer on speed 1.  Add milk, vanilla, and spices.  Whip on speed 3 to incorporate everything is smooth.


The changes that I would make if we made this cake again would be to add more smoked paprika and sweet paprika to both the cake and icing. Just a little to subtle taste for me. I also would add in a little cinnamon to the icing in stead of cocoa.

Rachel and I then sculpted the cake and fondant figures to resemble Tuscan training camp. (Also where we met)

California

Went down to Poway California for ten day to get some good warm weather training in before school starts again. On the first day through down a 3 hour ride in 4c temp, so warmer than Canada but not a huge change. It got a lot warmer as the day went on.

On the second day was doing an easy run and found the biggest puddle. I processed to face plant into that puddle making a muddy mess of myself but all was fine and finished up the run dirty but uninjured.
By the third day had settled into and was ready for some good training. Here is how the week looked.

Monday:
-am hard bike 6x4min hard up hill @330watts
-noon swim 4500m some good meters
-pm run 1 hour cruise

Tuesday:
-am bike 90min cruise
-noon swim 4500m tec work
-pm running hills 8x30sec hard

Wednesday:
-am bike 90min cruise
-noon swim 5000m 4x(6x200yards @2:30)
-pm run 1 hour cruise

Thursday:
-am hard bike 6x4min hard up hill @340-50watts
-noon swim 4200m tec work
-pm run 1 hour cruise

Friday:
-am run workout 5xmile @6min descend starting at 5:15
-noon swim 4500m some good meters
-pm run 1 hour cruise

Saturday:
-am 4 hour bike cruise
-open water swim

Sunday:
-am run1 hour cruise
-non bike 90 min cruise
-pm run 50min cruise

That was a basic training week at a glance that I have been working up to with Paulo. Much more to come and can not wait to get back down to California. Had some very cool runs on the last few days with low clouds.

All I had in my Pockets for the 4 hour Ride

 The 4 hour ride started cold but got hot very quickly so I had to put some cloths in my empty water bottle to hold it all in my pockets.

sunny pool

Sub 4

There are many Sub 4’s in distance sport. There is the sub 4 minute  1500 and prestige’s sub 4 minute mile. In the last few races I have been hunting sub 4 hours in a 70.3 Triathlon and I have achieved my goal in the lovely city of Miami.

It was a nice day for racing with very little wind and clear skies. I was able to have a good warm up going into the swim and felt ready for the day. It was a none wetsuit swim with the water around 25.5c. I was able to have good start and got right into the middle of the race that had about 30 pro men. I was able to stay with the chase group for the hole swim have a pb, swimming 26:32.

 

I was able to have quick transition on to the bike. I had a video camera hooked up to the back of my bike so I got some cool shots. Thanks to Celadon Hills Cycling for lending me the camera. The battery died just before half way. I had a great bike with such a flat course I was able to kill it. I went 2:04:08 with the 5^th fasts bike averaging 43.5kph. I averaged 272watts for the ride. I doubled my food amount from the last 70.3, which made a huge difference. I caught the main group at 43km and put down a big surge to pass them about 400watts for 500m this may have been a mistake but it putting me in 4^th place.  But around 78km I did start to really hurt. And a couple of guys went around me. I came into transition in 6^th. For the last 5km  the group back way off to prepare for the run.

I had a really fast T2 beating the group out and putting me back in 4^th again. I started the run of with Viktor Zyemtsev and was able to run in front of him for the first 3 miles but after that the heat and hard bike hit me and I exploded. I finished up the run in 10^th and got my sub 4 (3:55). There also was a Train! That I had to stop for about a mile from the finish line. The race director was expecting it and the time we waited for the train was subtracted from our finishing time.

The season is wrapped up and I will be having some off time now and getting ready for next year.

Huge thanks to my home stay Carla and Dona.

Thanks to Caledon Hills Cycling and Cervelo for all the bike equipment, Saucony for the run shoes, Nineteen Wetsuit for the FastSkin/Wetsuit, Kinetico, Royal Containers and C3 for a great year of support.