ITU Cozumel World Championships: A Day in Hell

I don't even know where to start with this race. Saying it was hot just seems so underwhelming. It was super mega death man hot. There, that's a better explanation. The day started just like any other race - woke up, ate breakfast, shuttled to the race site, set up transition, waited till start. Except for one small detail; the waiting around for the race to start ended up being three hours of waiting in the scorching heat and humidity. Athletes were all piling in under any piece of shade they could find to stay out of the sun until their race start. It still baffles me that we had to wait that long, but with thousands of athletes going off at different times during the day, it was just very unfortunate that I was in one of the last groups to go off. The current was quite aggressive that day and some of the weaker swimmers were actually being pulled from the ocean with a time of over 45 minutes for 750 meters! Just wild.

Eric DokterApril 24, 2017world championships, ITU, Mexico, Cozumel, Eric, High Performance, Triathlon, Swim, Bike, Run, Racing

Dream. Travel. Race.

Dream. Travel. Race. That's exactly what I did back at the beginning of this decade. I had been training and competing in triathlon for a few years when I decided to make myself a goal. My wife and I had always enjoyed travelling, but I had never thought about combining two of my most favourite things.

I set the goal to qualify for the ITU World Championships. In fact, I gave myself a goal to accomplish this within 5 years. I trained extremely hard, and won the National Championships in my age group. Qualifying for the Age Group World Championships was one of the greatest accomplishments I have ever had. It was an absolute amazing experience that are difficult to put into words.

Kyle JensenApril 17, 2017triathlon, racing, travel, world championships, competing, coach, goals

4 Critical Things to Think About Before Racing

The racing season is nearly upon us. As you prepare physically for the racing season ahead, do not forget the psychological preparation and thought you need to put into your training as you prepare your mind for the activity ahead.

T1Triathlon High Performance Team Manager has 4 crucial things you should think about before even toeing the line.

Cody RowanApril 10, 2017sport psychology, racing, triathlon, mental preparedness

London Calling

“Having won the 25-29 Age Group Sprint Canadian Championships in Edmonton last year, I qualified for a spot on the Canadian team for the 2013 ITU Age Group World Championships.

Kyle JensenApril 3, 2017age group, triathlon, world championships, london, england

How to Completely Change Your Life through Triathlon

Since an early age I have been involved in endurance sport. I was the completely wacky and abnormal kid who at the age of 15 would get up at 5 am, grab my golf clubs, hop on my bike, ride to the golf course in a tiny town in Southern Alberta, and get a round of golf in before ANYONE showed up. I’d then cycle all the way home, throw on the running shoes and go for a 10K run. Upon returning I’d grab my board shorts, head to the pool, teach some swimming lessons and spend the afternoon honing my lifeguard skills (aka basking in the sun and working on developing skin cancer). I really spent every minute trying to do as many things as I could. I was doing slow-cycling races with my best middle school friend before I even knew it was an actual way of training for killer cycling skills. You know the drill: ride in a straight line from point A to point B as slowly as humanly possible. Much easier now as an adult, but BOY! When you are an awkward 12 year old boy, riding your bike slowly is a recipe for some good comical viewing, BUT also the development of some SWEEEET cycling skills.

Kyle JensenMarch 20, 2017triathlon, coaching, racing, cycling, bike, swimming, running, triathlete

Adventures of a Modern Explorer

ALONE AGAINST THE NORTH BY ADAM SHOALTS

Viking, 304pp. 2015

Peter Shoalts is a modern explorer. His ambitious personality and great story-telling draw the reader into the remote wilderness of the Great White North. His intelligent and humorous writing style enhances this adventurous story and kept me intrigued from page to page. From encounters with polar bears to his fight against the frigid cold, I felt like I was on this amazing journey with him.

Kyle JensenMarch 13, 2017book, reading, adventuring, canada, canoe, north

Drafting, the Triathlete's Team Sport

Last summer, during an ITU race in Edmonton, I experienced triathlon as a team sport.

It was the first time I raced a “draft-legal” event. I had no idea how it would turn out. The main message about drafting I had gotten up to then was “do not draft”: If you are within a certain distance behind another cyclist, you must pass them or slow down until the distance between you increases. If you pass, you only have a few minutes to do so.

Yume KobayashiMarch 10, 2017triathlon, triathlete, cycling, biking, drafting, team, sports, multisport

Three's the Magic Number

Lots of good things are related to the number three. Triple chocolate cookies, for example. Or the three wishes granted by a genie. And then, of course, there’s triathlon. The fact that triathlon involves three different disciplines is the reason I initially gave it a try. I was intrigued because it seemed like both a way to challenge myself and an opportunity to expand on one of my favorite activities (running). Now that I’ve completed several triathlons, I still find the multi-sport nature of this activity to be one of its most exciting aspects. Here’s why.

Courtenay SmartMarch 7, 2017triathlon, swimming, biking, cycling, running, multisport

Insight into Appropriate Running Shoe Selection

As we dive into the new year my academic supervisor has been slowly gathering a pile of kindling under me to get cracking on nailing down my thesis topic. I am an M.Sc candidate in kinesiology, specializing in biomechanics so it’s the perfect opportunity for me to assist in the knowledge acquisition of the sport science field as well as improve my own performances, if possible. My area of focus is osteoarthritis in the knee and I would like to conduct a thesis study pertaining to running or cycling. Funny enough, through my literature review, it appears that the leader in running gait kinematics (and to an extent cycling) is based out of the University of Calgary: Dr. Benno Nigg. Perhaps I will take a trip out to Calgary to collaborate in the near future!

Tyler ChuangFebruary 22, 2017running, triathlon, triathlete, running shoes, shoes, proper, athletic, sports, science

4 Simple Ways to Deal with the Winter Blues

We’re about halfway through winter here in North America and if you live anywhere as cold as I do, you might be starting to lose motivation in your training. Aside from hibernation, there isn’t a lot of ways to get away from day after day of cold, dark, winter, but hopefully I can help. Here in Calgary we’ve had some pretty damn cold days and I too am counting down the days until I can ride my bike outside again, but until then here are a few tips I use to get through the winter training season.

Eric DokterFebruary 13, 2017training, winter, triathlon, performance, tips

A Year of Triathlon

From spring training camps in beautiful Victoria to hurricane-like conditions in Winnipeg, explore the following images from a year in the life of T1Triathlon.

Kyle JensenDecember 31, 2016triathlon, coaching, triathlete, canada, training

4 Essential Motivational Lessons

Triathlon is a physical and mental sport. It takes a strong body and an equally strong mind to pull off elite performance. Sometimes our mental focus can suffer during our day to day grind, and we may feel unmotivated to simply get through a simple training session. I've always found that the wisdom of others has been a strength to me during moments of psychological weakness.

Kyle JensenNovember 23, 2016triathlon, motivation, inspiration, quotes, training, racing, endurance, athletes, athlete, triathlete, triathletes