Sat Apr 24th Technosport LC
Meet
Congratulations to George on setting two Ontario
Records!
Here are full details of how the five Carleton swimmers
placed:
George (Whitecaps "B", Men's
80-84): 1st 50br 59.90 (club
record, ON record), 100br 2:25.58 (ON
record); 2nd 50bk
Jose (Whitecaps "B", Men's 45-49):
2nd 200IM
Mits (6:30am Earlybirds, Men's
30-34): 1st 50br, 100br
Mark B (Earlybirds/Whitecaps "A",
Men's 25-29): 1st 200fs, 400fs
Lynn (Whitecaps "A", Women's
40-44): 1st 50fs, 200fs, 400fs 4:47.77 (CAN
record), 50bk, 50br, 100br, 100fl, 200IM
Technosport Sprint Series
Results
The Technosport Sprint Series is now over.
It included the meets on Oct 18th, Nov 22nd,
Jan 24th, Mar 13th, Apr 24th and May 8th (6 meets). The winner in each age
group receives a certificate at the annual Technosport banquet in June.
Here are the full standings: http://members.rogers.com/technosport/results/0304sprt.htm,
and a summary of Carleton's placings:
George (80-84; Whitecaps "B"):
66pts (1st) (4 meets)
Francois A (45-49, Earlybirds):
48pts (tied for 1st) (3 meets)
Jose (45-49, Whitecaps "B"): 23pts
(3rd) (4 meets)
Don W (40-44, Whitecaps "A"):
14pts (5th) (1 meet)
Mits (30-34, 6:30am Earlybirds):
49pts (2nd) (5 meets)
Kevin N (30-34, Whitecaps "A"):
5pts (8th) (2 meets)
Mark B (25-29, Varsity/Masters):
10pts (tied for 6th) (1 meet)
Mike R (25-29, High
Intensity/6:30am Earlybirds): 10pts (tied for 6th) (1 meet)
Lynn (40-44, Whitecaps "A"):
113pts (1st) (3 meets)
Julia S (30-34, Nightcaps): 16pts
(7th) (1 meet)
Jocelyn L (30-34, Nightcaps): 8pts
(10th) (1 meet)
Masters Nationals, and Masters
Worlds
Mark B (Varsity/Masters) and
Danny F (Whitecaps/Coach) are leaving shortly for Masters
Nationals (Edmonton, May 21-24th), and George (Whitecaps "B")
and Mike R (6:30am Earlybirds) are going all the way to
Italy for the Masters Worlds (Riccione, Jun 3-13th). Good luck to you
all!
May 9th Mother's Day Duathlon (2.8k run /
20k bike / 2.8k run; 72 competitors)
Congrats to J-P and Chris on their races!
Jean-Pierre T (7:30am Earlybirds) 7th
overall, 7th male, and 2nd in men's 25-29 in 55:52
Chris M (Whitecaps "B") 9th overall, 9th
male, and 2nd in men's 40-44 in 57:29
May 2nd St Croix Half-Ironman (529
competitors)
Tom M (Whitecaps "A") placed 159th overall and 13th out of
41 in the men's 45-49 age group in 5:46:26. He sends this report on his
race:
The St Croix half Ironman is
one heck of an event!
Now normally you would not catch me participating in an
event longer than an Olympic distance event. The short story of this is that my
brother registered me and then let me know what he had done.
The day I
left Ottawa the morning temp was 0c. The arrival temp in St Croix was +28c, what
a shock to the system.
The island is very beautiful (from a distance)
close up the vegetation hides the ugly truth... the island has a serious
litter/garbage problem. As well poaching of marine life (Lobsters and turtles
etc) seems to be a local past time. One lady at the Cane Bay dive shop noticed
that the lobsters had slowly stopped going to a specific area where she and her
colleagues dove frequently to gather the riches of the sea. Her explanation was
that the Lobsters were getting smarter and not that they had "over-fished" the
site. I can just see it now...the head of the lobster union has set up a
committee meeting to investigate why there have been mass disappearances of
their "brethren", yep they are getting smarter those lobsters!
The warm
Caribbean waters however are clear and salty. Lots of coral and colour fish as
well the occasional turtle and Barracuda (not the song from Heart).
Several other athletes and my self/brother rented a villa just a short
3miles from the race site in Christeansted. The City is small with some
impressively old and well maintained buildings. Most seamed to be occupied by
Lawyers and Law firms the rest by Jewellery shops and restaurants and some gov't
housing / offices.
The training swims were well managed and the water
although warm had some big swells and chop (good for a swimmer like me).
The winds were unrelenting for the entire eight days however the locals all
agreed that the winds of that nature were a bit unusual. Regardless it
always seemed that there was a gale outside. The temp never changed all that
much either, pleasantly hot.
Cycling was a bit of an issue as the roads
are twisty-narrow and no room for error. Also given that the drive is a
left-hand side drive with a right hand side car, lots of right side mirrors are
missing on many cars. There were no shoulders to speak of. The cars never can go
all that fast as you are continually cornering, lots of blind curves and
intersections. Remember drive left look right. some narrow misses and long honks
when you first start driving.
There is good (by comparison to the rest of
the island)riding in the Southeast portion, not as many homes and things. Many
athletes tried their hand at climbing the "Beast" several days prior to the
event...I don't recommend it. My suggestion is to train well in advance for this
steep long hill and have either a 25 or 27 / 39 on your bike. This hill will
take quite a lot out of you even if you only do it once. It's the heat and the
length of the hill that will do it to you.
The entire course is a must drive
prior to cycling it. The "Beast" is not the hardest part by a long shot. The
wind on at least 55km of the course will eat you up. We had winds in excess of
45km hour strengthening to about 60km per hr (from time to time). Ordinarily
some of the hills found in the eastern part of the Island would be very
manageable however with the heavy winds you are constantly using you 25-27 / 39
to make it up. The roads for the most part in the last 50 km are very exposed to
the ocean winds. Great scenery for the entire swim /bike/ run. I started the
cramping sessions long before I got to the big tailwinds and with that I had a
very long slow return on the last 26 miles. I was found to be walking up the
last big up hill do to simultaneous cramps in both legs of the Hamstrings and
Quads, can you say ouch! This endeavour took about 20-25 min out of my day,
needless to say the upcoming run wasn't going to go all that well. Funny thing
is I felt great and had ! no issues with heat etc. One needs to keep in mind
that you need a high salt intake days prior to the race not just during the
race.
The Run is hot and windy and very exposed to the sun. It is a two
loop course and it is half on pavement and half on golf cart path that is a mix
of gravel, dirt, cement and pavement. The crowds are fabulous and the aid
stations are some of the best I've experienced...anywhere.
Just to
finish off...you should take advantage of the various reefs and sites before you
leave. The island has plenty to offer for a one week visitor.
I think I'm
going back next year...more on that later.
Tom
