CoverAll Bridgetown Triathlon

Is it too early to be thinking about the 2010 CoverAll Bridgetown Triathlon (Sunday Aug 1)? Race Director Mike Parker and his team don't think so....

That should have left you feeling pumped and ready for race season :)

Thanks Mike for sharing

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Boston 2010

A quick report from the Boston marathon. Yes we know it was four days ago but we hurt so much even our fingers had post-marathon ache and we're only just back to normal typing speed and accuracy. Knd-of. Mya-eb.

Compared to anything we see in Nova Scotia, the Boston Marathon is huge. Granted, it is not the largest marathon in the world; both London and New York (for two) are bigger, but for those of us (well the TA) used to smaller, more intimate events, Boston is neither small or intimate and can even present one with an unexpected attack of agoraphobia.

It's a point to point, finishing in Boston. Here's the map from our Garmin;

The race lays on a fleet of school-buses that leave Boston Common starting at 06:00 to take close to 26000 runners to the start-village at Hopkinton. Here you chill out under a tent in a field ringed by portapotties, enough for the (ahem) runners. We reckon the two things you can't get in Boston on marathon day for love nor money are school buses and portapotties.

The one drag about the event is the long wait to the start; we got to Hopkinton just before 07:00 but our numbers weren't called to the corral until just past 09:00 for the 10:00 start. It was a bit chilly to start, maybe 5C, but the sun was out and the temperatures started to climb. It ended up about 15C at the finish. For those of us from Nova Scotia still unaccustomed to temperatures warm enough to melt snow, this was welcome news. Warm enough to feel comfortable and dispense with all those layers but not heat that we were not yet acclimatised to.

It ended up being an arm-warmers and singlet kind of day. We were going for safety in numbers. Arm-warmers were the hot item at the Expo, the Asics booth sold out of them and there were many, many pairs on the course. What is interesting is how many ended up "on the course". Your average runner, it seems, does not know the trick is to roll them down into two oversized wrist-bands when the going gets hot. Many were peeling off their warm-warmers and either dropping them on the road, carrying them or carrying them and then dropping them when they blew up!

The course itself has an interesting profile. It trends downhill for much of the first 20 kms before a series of hills around Newton between 25 and 32 km, including the infamous Heartbreak. After this it's flat/downhill to the finish on Boylston Street. The hills aren't actually that bad in terms of grade or length; one of them is a highway overpass, and overpasses are ridiculed the world over for only pretending to be hills ("he can only win a climb on an overpass"). In Halifax terms, these hills are nothing compared to Quinpool or Bayview or even Devonshire. The problem with the hills at Boston is that they come at 25 km, right aboout the time you start to think about hitting the wall.

The course is very well supported, and not just by waterstops and cops. There are crowds for pretty much the whole 42.2 km route and the closer you get to Boston, the deeper and louder and more vocal they become. The girls from Wellesley College at the half have such a repuation for volume that they have their own banner a few hundred metres out warning you to be ready for the scream. The Wellesley girls are really quite a boost to the spirit, well, it may also be the offer of kisses too. Not to be outdone, the frat-boys at Boston College five miles later offer beer.

Thinking about it, we're not sure why we didn't take one; water, complex sugars and some ethanol to help dull the pain. Or a kiss for that matter (at Wellesley). Next year.

By the time you get to the Citgo sign at Kenmore Square with a 2 kms to go the crowds are incrediblely deep and loud and there is the proverbial wall of sound that carries you to the finish. Compared to local events where it's five people, the chip-guys, a couple of cows and the TD, it's quite a change, and a welcome one; that's one thing we don't mind doing differently on race day! Then it's the right on Hereford and left onto Boylston (pretty much the only course directions you need in the whole event) and the longest 800m of your life to get to the finish.

We think there were 9 TNsers there. We met into Shawna Murdock Moore and Terry Moore at the Expo. This was Shawna's second marathon of the year, and she was hoping for better weather after getting sub-zero windchills at the Disney Marathon in January (sub-zero in Florida? WTF?). She got it and stopped the clock on pretty much 4hrs exactly.

We also bumped into Steven Saunders and Beverley Richardson the day after the race; bumped being an apropos term as we still had that "walking like a newly born foal" gait going on. Steve had a storied race, getting cut up at a water-stop and hitting the ground hard enough to draw blood. Still, he got back up, dusted himself off and posted a decent 3:42

Finally, Marie-Claude Gregoire ran a 3 minute PB. Running lore says that you don't run PBs on Boston yet this is the second time she has done just that. Chapeau!

Here is a list of all the TNS finishers and times;


Elizabeth Corkum - 4:11:33
Gayland Goodwin - 3:42:50
Marie-Claude Gregoire - 3:24:46
Denise Mader - 4:02:35
Shawna Murdock-Moore - 4:00:43
Steven Saunders - 3:42:51
TurnAround - 3:14:31

And TNS Banquet guest-speakers

Dave Nevitt - 3:04:00
Ray Williams - 4:30:23? (it was 3:20-something we think but there must be a chip-problem).

And no, before you ask; both guys got the bus to Hopkington and ran back - they didn't run out as well!


Well done all.


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Shipping up to Boston

The TurnAround is Shipping Up To Boston today. No, we didn't get a position at Boston College or Wellesley, but we will be going by both places soon. It's the 114th Boston Marathon on Monday and the TA will be hitting the course for the second time; this time it's personal (puts on deep, gravelly, movie-tailer voice). Last year the course did a number on us; this year it would be nice to even the score slightly. Of course, 26.2 miles is a distance that should never be taken with alacrity, something horrible will always happen along the way, but the where, when and how horribles can be under your control. To an extent.

Last year we did everything wrong; if we'd been told "don't do x" in this particular race (like go haring off on the first downhill) then we did "x", clocking a 20 minute 5K and 41 minute 10 K before trying to reel it in. Of course by then our proverbial bolt was shot and it all went horribly pear-shaped after Wellesley. This year the TA wants to enjoy the course as there's so much of it we didn't get to see or experience last year. This time we'd like to actually know which hill is Heartbreak or feel a thrill turning down Boyleson; we know that right-hander has been described as "the best corner in any marathon" but last year all we could think was "that finish line is still a bloody long way down there"

We're feeling a bit worried about the whole thing, with our basket-case-o-meter currently registering an 11 out of 10, but really Boston is not the kind of course that you try to set records on (although some do). Rather than being a means to an end, it's supposed to be the end itself, a celebration of marathon running (as you have to run a fairly stringent qualifying time) rather than being about the run itself. That said, could you really call Boston a "B" race?

This supposed celebratory aspect nothwithstanding, many do take it seriously. Rami "The Rocket" Bardessey started checking the Boston-area weather forecast two weeks ago, trying to divine the portents. Of course, two weeks out he'd have been just as accurate with a bunch of sheep's entrails.

Rami's obssesive interest in the forecast led us to ask the TA's last poll; if the weather is going to be epic, which would you rather have; an extreme of cold or hot? This was of more than academic interest as Boston has been known to have both. The results were evenly split;

It seems that there is no clear consensus, with exactly half of you ready to layer up and half of you ready to strip down. The weather Gods may be smiling on us, as the latest forecast (thank-you Rami) is a low of ca 6C, high of 13C, risk of showers and a northwest wind. So there should be no need to strip down or totally layer up.

The question du jour on Monday may be "do I wear something under my singlet", although it should never be "do I wear something with my singlet" (apart from shorts that is). The major fashion-crime that is a tri-top and arm-warmers has been documented elsewhere, and with far more vitriol than the TA could ever do. We do have a confession to make; last year at Boston we were faced with same meterological dilema and, thinking that we were safely ensconced in the anonymity of the big city, went for arm-warmers with our singlet, not knowing that photographuc evidence would survive.

That's right, do as I say, not do as I do!

By our reckoning. at least nine other TNSers are Shipping up to Boston this weekend and will also be facing the singlet and arm-warmers dilema; Elizabeth Corkum (17882), Gayland Goodwin (13787), Marie-Claude Gregoire (11087, Denise Mader (18027), Shawna Murdock-Moore (19088), Steven Saunders (17950) and the TurnAround (3825). Other names of interest are TNS banquet speakers David Nevitt (3041) and Ray Williams (8601) and local fast-persons The Rocket (107) and the Pocket Rocket (F103). You can follow people by going to the baa website (baa.org), follow the links to athlete tracker and punch in the bib#. We think you can follow five athletes at once.

So, while we're travelling enjoy the Dropkick Murphys' Shipping Up To Boston, and no we don't feel that way about our favorite DCO (we wouldn't want to pee in front of anyone else). This is the song that got us out and running in cold, wind, rain and snow this winter; whenever the temptation to take "just one day off, it can't possibly hurt, the marathon isn't until April" struck us, we'd listen to this. It would get us moving sharpish. With an interesting bit of circularity, the song is best known from The Departed, itself a remake of Internal Affairs, and Internal Affairs is likely what the the TA will have going on come Monday lunchtime. Last year we ended in the medical tent (we made it over the line, but couldn't quite make it over to the buses) but we'll tell you this if you do; you get to lie down with a blankie, a nice lady comes over, holds your hand and asks you if you're alright (and is in no way judgemental that you've just run a marathon) and gives you a nice cup of warm beef boullion. Ahhhhh.......

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Here for a good time, not a lung time....

OK, apologies to Trooper; last Saturday we were down at Pier 21 for a good time and a lung time. The 4th, ahem, running of the Lung Run, which raises awareness of lung health issues as well well as being "just" a 5K, was one for the books. Well over 500 people signed up, an event record, and while the total amount of money raised has not yet been tallied, it will be significant.

While the Lung run does have a serious message, the racing is also serious. Last year saw the first sub-15 minute 5K on Nova Scotia roads in 18 years. Being earlier in the season this year, the organisers were unsure if 15 minutes would be broken again, but the lead bicycles still weren't under any illusions about being able to stay in front of the pack.

We saw a good few TNSers down at Pier 21 last Saturday, either running or on the side-lines cheering on. Good intentions from cheerers Jason Murphy, John Kirk, Kurt Stephenson and Ian loughhead maybe, but perhaps there was also a spot of gladiatorial bloodlust at the prospect of seeing someone in pain for entertainment! As much as we like to see a closely contested sprint finish, well seeing someone hurl on the chip-guys is the icing on the cake. Well not the literal icing, that would just be nasty, but you know what we mean.

As you know, 5Ks hurt, really hurt, as there is no time for finesse or too much strategy, it's just a bolt for the line. In the cycling world, the ten mile time-trial is often taken as a measure of someone's ability, "but what can he do for a ten?" the old boys will ask when a flash new guy shows up; the 5K could be a similar bench-mark for runners and triathletes. After all both events are basically 20 minute, all-out efforts with little or no consideration to anything else. Cursoturi te salutant indeed.

In fact, there is Kurt Stephenson (in the tuque and shoulder sling), waiting to see the action and if he stayed right there for the duration, he would have seen one of the top ladies loose her lunch, narrowly missing Mike II from Atlantic Chip. Ah, good days; if we're avoiding retching runners already, the racing season must have started.

We saw Andy Canning down there too; we're not sure if this was his first race as a Master, or just his first race in a while, either way we understand it hurt (a lot). You also get an idea of how busy the start was.

The top TNS finisher was Brad Piggot (#4287), who took fifth spot in 16:23. This was no mean feat at all since he was racing against pure runners, and national-calibre trackies, of the likes of winner Matthias Wolter (who was wearing a Maple Leaf in his last event), Jason Wilson, Rob Jewer and Joel Bergman. Brother Matt (#4288) was just behind with his 16:45 getting him 8th. For the books, Matthias' winning time was a scorching 15:34.

The top TNS lady was Rayleen Hill, whose 18:22 cracked the podium for 3rd lady not far behind last year's winner Erin McClean and Gina Stewart. Laura Reardon Keefe and her bright pink sneakers were just behind Rayleen and neither lady conceded much (if any) ground to the Dal cross-coutry ladies on what is arguably closer to the former's turf.

Other familar faces we saw included Provincial Olympic distance Champion Ryan MacDonald, Gerrad Lewin and Tom Soehl (above), all of whom finished in the twenty (Gerald was just pipped for 2nd lady!!), Kevin Piggot, Shannon Read, Erin Thibault and Ron MacDougal; the latter bringing the Tartan Tally to 6 and it's only April 13th. The full results are on Altantic Chip. If we missed you, we're sorry but let us know via a comment below.


TNS was also represented on the other side of the barricades. TNS treasurer Philip Caulier along with Darlene Caulier, Cali and Myriska Caulier were all staffing corners. As for us, well running hurts, and here at the TurnAround we're supposed to be tapering. Not that it stopped Rami "The Rocket" Bardessey who jogged around at a pedestrian 4:02/km for a 20:07. Yeah, sometimes we hate him too! So we did it on bikes; much more civilised, a lot easier on the joints to be sure, and less likely to throw up. Unless you were trying to keep ahead of Mathias Wolter. On the flats, easy, but through all the 90-degree corners in the last kilometer, not so easy and where, we confess, the guy nearly caught us not once but twice!

So congrats all for great runs. We'll let the nausea settle down a little before our next date, which is Stacey Juckett's 5K and duathlon double-header in May.

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Photographs fron Ian Loughhead and Steve Morley. Thanks guys

Bringing up a lung

So the votes from the "How Many Races Do You Think You'll Do This Year" poll are in. Voting hours were extended due to a last minute surge in voting, making this one of the most voted-on polls we've ever posted; this and the Norwegian Trousers poll. What this says about triathletes we're not sure; we'll let you make your minds up on this one.

The numbers look like this.....

We're not going to call this one normally distributed, albeit skewed (just like us). We're going to call it biphasic (just like us). Just under 75% of you are planning on doing between 1-10 races this year; ca. 20% in the 1-5 and 45% in the 6-10 bracket. We are going to call a secondary peak however centered at 16-20.

This seems to agree with reality, or at leaast the slightly twisted version of reality we experience here at the TA. Doing up to ten events allows for two, maybe three "A" races in a year, with a couple of "B" races in the run-up to each, just to let us know we're on track, to get a bit of race-intensity in before race-day or just to try out TZ for real. Then there are always a couple of events that we have an emotional soft-spot for; maybe it's one you've always done, maybe it was the first race you ever did, the first one you ever got a prize in or maybe you've always run Cabot Trail for that team and you just have to spend the weekend with the guys.

Tot that lot up and that gets you your 5-10 events a year. As triathletes there is another wrinkle in this formula, and that is that at least one of those 'A' races is likely to be long, as in starting-before-breakfast or finishing-after-dark long (or possibly both). It takes a few weeks to get over that kind of effort, not to mention the training beforehand and that cuts down on the amount of racing we can do.

Then there are the nutters who just seem to race every week. The TA confesses to falling into this category. We love racing, we get a kick out of it. Not winning, ha, as if, but we do get a peverse pleasure from doing it well. From a well-taken corner, from a nice bit of running, from going that little bit further over our limit, from something we weren't quite sure we could do when we got out of bed that morning, from a particularly bloody battle emerged victorious, for the shaken hand and quiet words of encouragement and congratulation at the end of the event. Anyway, that's what put us on the start line many, many times last season. What drives Ron MacDougall nobody knows. The MacDougall Tartan Tally already stands at three for the season. We'll keep you posted as to how it ends out.

If you need a fast-twitch fix soon, then try on the Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run this Saturday (April 10th). Ron's registered (you can sponsor him, or any other runner here)! This, the fourth Lung Run, has moved forward in the calendar this year from last years August spot, and please, please note it is Saturday afternoon (not any combination of Sunday and Morning; turn up Sunday morning and it'll just be you, a couple of sea-gulls and perhaps a wharf-rat). The event has already secured a reputation for being fast; last years winner, Robert Kitz, posted a sub-15 5K, the fastest 5K on the road in Nova Scotia for eighteen years. The lead bike was in danger of getting run over and passed by the guy. Imagine the ignominy; the bike getting beaten by a runner in a foot-race!

Now granted, a 2:59/km pace may be a bit much to ask this early in the season, but why don't you come down and give it a bit of the old zoom-zoom try and have a crack at that PB? We know that Saturday often means putting the miles in on the bike, so why don't you turn it into a brick with some real intensity thrown in at the end, not to mention a water table (@ 2.5K if you were wondering).

The TA clapped eyes on the circuit earlier and can confirm it really is flat. The start is at Pier 21, run out of the car-park and turn left down Marginal Road for a mile (1.6km), where you do a 180-turn at HalTerm. Back the way you came, past Pier 21 (3K) and do a right onto the boardwalk just after Bishops Landing (4K). Then it's a straight burn (and we use our words advisedly) back to Pier 21. We're talking Holland flat here, so flat in fact we nearly started speaking Dutch and ordering Hoegaarden. OK, we were already drinking Hoegaarden, but you get our drift? Ja? Proost!

In fact Denise Robson is probably getting more elevation in this picture than from the rest of the course combined!

Before the adult event, which is at 16:30, there is a 1.5 km kids run at 16:00. The kids are no slouches, the event being won in under six minutes last year.

Yes, they're all wearing the event T-shirt in the event (the most pas of race-day fashion faux-pas) but when you're ten getting a free T-shirt is a bit of a big deal! And it was Technical (no word on if they'll be technical this year though)! We also once overheard a 9 year old say that technical t-shirts were great because "you don't sweat in them". Ahhh, so cute! There's a Healthy Lungs workshop for the kids right afterwards too where even if they won't be enlightened of the miracle of wicking polyester, they will be enlightened of the notion of smoking!

OK, so, Saturday, that's Saturday April 10th (which is nowhere near Sunday morning) down at Pier 21. Yes, it probably is going to hurt, but it won't last long (sigh). Oh, and if it does hurt a little too much, Garrison Brewery is right there on-course. See you there....

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C is for Cookie

A while ago now, well it must have been 40 days, we asked you what you gave up for Lent.

There was no consensus, with as many votes for "other" as the nuns' old favourites of cookies. No-one gave up beer, which we suppose was a bit of a surprise. No-one forgave candy for 40 days, which on the face of it might sound surprising but on reflection was likely not. Giving up candy would by definition (it could be argued) also mean Sports Beans and gels, and with the Lenten period encompassing nearly all of the pre-Boston twenty-milers and The Moose 25 K, well, giving up candy would be like giving up caffiene or oxygen and there'd still be a pile of bonked triathletes at the corner of Bissett Road! As for the person who gave up EPO-CERA for Lent; well we commend the long, pre-season depuration period but expect Murph' round your door any day now.

The TA said no cookies and no chocolate. This did have the unintended consequence of making made life slightly harder as now chocolate gels were prohibited on those twenty-milers! Anyway, we made it through, the occasional mirage of a bowl of chocolate ice-cream with Jaffa Cake eyes and Chocolate Fingers wandering off into the sunset notwithstanding. However, in the bleakest cookie-free moments, life started to feel a bit, well, dystopian.....

Anyway, Cookies are afraid of people, not people afraid of Cookies, they aren't a banned food (and in fact may be a little highbrow) and the cheery little video up top reflects our childish glee now we're allowed back in the cookie jar; and that chocolate/cherry Carboom is going to taste so good on this morning's run (or at least as good as any gel has any right to taste).

Happy Easter

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Oh, and it's not a good idea to microwave Elmo. Just sayin', s'all.....

Triathlon Overtraining Syndrome

Here is a colour association test for you. Choose between green and black as the most appropriate response;

*Field

*Grass

*Tree

*Hedge

*Tarmac

If you answered 'black' to more than one of these then you are suffering from "Triathlon Overtraining Syndrome" aand should seek expert advice immediately. Symptoms include walking with the head down, inability to turn the head more than 30 degrees to the side and an uncontrollable urge to never walk more thaan 25 metres in a straight line without turning around.

There are other warning signs of course, such as having no friends and buying lots of washing powder. To help anyone who thnks they may be suffering from this most unfortunate ailment, here is a checklist of things you should know;

1) It is not mandatory to swim up nd down in a pool. Swimming across is permitted, indeed some people have been known to swim in no particular direction for minutes at a time

2) Bicycles are capable of travelling less than 20 kilometres in any journey. They are happy going out for short trips and will not become agitated if leant against a wall for quite long periods of time.

3) In towns and cities many of the roads hve been decorated with street furniture. Some of this is very pretty and includes lights which change colour from time to time. You may have noticed that many people behave oddly and stop moving when one particular colour lights up.

4) Despite the concerted efforts of planning departments, some parts of Nova Scotia remain relatively rural. Consequently many roads are only a few metres wide and are bordered by the countryside. The countryside, if you recall, comprises hedges, trees and fields and is usully coloured green (this is helpful feedback for those who scored poorly in the quiz).

5) Human beings have a form of locomotion known as "walking". This is not an illegal act and is carried out by consenting adults in public on many occasions.

If even one of these things was a surprise to you, it my be too late. But do not loose hope, because although there is no known cure, careful nursing and a suitable rehabilitation programme can do much to improve the condition. The good news is you are not alone. Why do you think the governing body has thoughtfully provided five-year age-groups? There are hundred of us who have had the condition for years.

Anyone who would like counselling for this debilitating condition should contact "Triathlon Overtraining Anonymous". Any member of the executive will have the number.

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