ATB

Rain. Soaking wet socks & shoes, squish squish. My Mother was inquiring how i handled the downpour that took place during most of the race. Honestly you just tune it out. I remember looking out at Lake Ontario & seeing the choppy waves rolling in & i remember the steel gridiron lift bridge which can be nerve recking when its wet. Even with the rain, the dedicated people of Hamilton with their umbrellas still came out to cheer. The toughest part of the course is Northshore Blvd. by the Burlington Curling & Country Club and the other section is around marker 26 km. Northshore is a series of rolling hills that subconciously plays games with your legs, wearing your down. Marker 26km is the deep valley & climb back up to York Blvd.
I'm competing in 70.3 Ironman New Orleans in one week and was trying to decide whether to take it easy or not for ATB. I decided, life is short & to go for it. In the end i set a pb with a chip time of 2:12:50 knocking off 7 minutes from last years time. I owe so much of this improvement to my good friends at the Running Room. Practice does some amazing things. As i'm typing this up on March 30th it is snowing in Barrie. ATB had a great showing from Barrie. A busload of RR fanatics ventured down for the 115th running of ATB. Yes Older than Boston by 3 years. Congratulations to all. To my friend Dianne M, great job & i hope you didn't get too wet. See you next year. Tim, they were asking for you at the e-load exhibit. I said hi for you.

Mark Harrison in South Africa

check it out www.triharrison.blogspot.com
Mark has just arrived in Prince Edward (i think) South Aftrica to compete in the Ironman. we all wish Mark well. cheers. J.

a plunge

just finished 3200 meters in the pool this morning. on January 2nd, i joined the Barrie Masters Swim Club with one pragmatic goal ; to reduce my 2:05 /100m pace to 1:50 /100m. swimming by far has been my achilles heel. however with lots of repetition & pointers from my mentors Brad & Mark, i think i can honestly say i've improved. how can i be so sure that i've improved ? easy. i'm not getting beat as badly now. swimming in many ways is like swinging a golf club or throwing a perfect QB spiral. everything has to click. Its all about motor mechanics Coach Fracas at the UofW use to say at our Lancer football practices. Swimming is about reduce drag & resistance. what a feeling when suddenly everything you have learned kicks in with pinpoint precision & suddenly for a brief moment you feel like a torpedo moving through water. but as fast as it comes, it leaves you to. that's the frustration. i hope i haven't jinxed myself by talking about self-improvement. my lovely wife, often reminds me, "look back 4 years ago when you struggled to finish 750 meters".
my motto has been, never even think about quitting ; and if you truly want something be persistant. signing off, Jamie

Cycling Freaks !

Lance has broken his first collarbone. First time apparently. 6 weeks to heel, he should be back for the Tour.
Closer to home, the 57th Westover-Strabane Classic. A road race on April 10, 2009 held near Flamborough (north of Hamilton). I might check it out. For the masters it is a three 18.5 km loop. for more detail go to Hamilton Cycling.

Opera

I'm stopped in the street almost everyday and asked, "Jamie what is your favourite Opera?" That's easy, Alexander Pushkin's "Boris Godunov". Great music ; Great epic. Boris was the Czar of Russia following Ivan the Terrible. Wasn't Ivan an Ironman?

ATB race course

I was talking with Hamilton Running Room friend two days ago. She was telling me how they have been practicing by running the front portion of the course. In all her running this section of streets that runs through industrial Hamilton (Copps Colliseum to almost the Lift Bridge) the locals are always quite enthusiastic to share their feelings with the Running Room glan. I guess its their way of offering their hospitality & words of encourage. I think that's what makes people from Hamilton so darn tough. Around the Bay when you sit back & analyse the neighbourhoods you actually run through, is in itself, unique. You go from Steeltown Hamilton to the cusp of Lake Ontario, to the "Rodedale drive" of Burlington. Running along Northshore Blvd.is beautiful. Gorgeous homes with Landrovers parked in their drive as Executive wives sip their baileys & coffee and applaud the runners as they go by.
A popular race. No wonder it sells out so quickly these days.

ATB, SA, NO, & Utah

One week away for the Older than Boston race, "Around the Bay 30km". I've done this race twice now, and it is a perfect tune up for all Ironman. Our good friend Mark Harrison is off to South Aftrica to do the Ironman, we wish Mark all the best! Myself, I'm off to New Orleans in 2 wks to do the 70.3. and lastly a new annoucement Utah will be hosting it's first inaugral Ironman event in 2010.

About the Barrie Tri Club in Barrie, On. Canada

After a brief hiatus, our Tri club is back on its feet thanks to Mischelle Stevens & some other key participants. The official name of our club is the Kempenfelt Tri Club. The City of Barrie, On is built around a body of water (no, not Little Lake). Those not from the area looking it up on a map would first see a Lake known as "Lake Simcoe". To the far west of Lake Simcoe is a large bay known as "Kempenfelt Bay". this is the body of water that is adjacent to the City of Barrie. So much for the geography lesson.
The KTC is looking for new members. Our Executives held a meeting last weekend & are pleased to annouce the mandatory KTC tattoo will no longer be inforcable. So, Brent you're back in the club.
It won't be long be for this weather breaks for good & we can unvail our weapons of mass destruction (tri bikes). Please visit www.kempenfelttriclub.com
We have some real comedians in the club, that will keep you doubled over while you're trying to catch your wind. Don't be shy, if you have any questions please ask.
I'll keep you posted with more detail soon. yours truly, Jamie.