Thursday, January 20, 2011

la paz videos









have you ever?



Have you ever had a race delayed for over in hour while sitting in 100F/38C heat?

Have you ever had a race referee blow the horn to start the swim when no one was ready?

Have you ever been at a race where the temperature drop 30 degrees in 10minutes?

Have you ever been riding along in a pack and then been swallowed by a sandstorm?

After being swallowed by the sandstorm, have you ever smacked into your good friend and crashed?

Have you ever seen a foot of rain fall in 30minutes in a race before?

Have you ever had pavement turn into a slip and slide?

Have you ever seen 20 people crash (separately) in a race before?

Have you ever ridden up to your skewers in a moving water?

Have you ever rode into T2 only to see volunteers holding your shoes so they dont float down the river?

Have you ever run through water up to your knees....on a street through the run course!

If you can answer yes to all these questions, you were definitelty at 2011 La Paz Triathlon.
The weather was insane. Lots of people have talked about it, and probably no one can do it justice if you werent there. It was dangerous; it was crazy. I swam in the lead pack of 10 or so. I crashed right as the weather got bad on the bike. I managed to stay upright the rest of the way, and came in with the chase pack. I ran/swam/dolphin-dived to 9th.*

*-There is some discrepency as to whether another athlete in the top 10 cut the course.

More pics and video to come.
cheers,
b

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

chile chile chile

First race of the year is done and dusted! I cant believe I will have two races done before January 20th....

I had a solid result in Chile considering both the time of year and more importantly how long it took me to get there. A snowstorm (more like snow drizzle) and a very inept Air Canada delayed me over 27hrs to get to Chile. The race was Sunday at 10:45AM and I didnt even arrive at my hotel until 5:30pm on Saturday.

I did a good job of remaining calm and not stressing out over the delay, but my 50hrs in-transit was going to catch up with me evetually...

As I stood on the start line looking into the ocean I could only think of two things: 1)All I want to do is sleep and 2) I should have eaten more yesterday.

Control the controllables.

Gun went off, and so did I. First pack swim, avoided dogs, potholes, and Chileans on the bike, and ran.

Finished 8th.



this pic is more for Harry than me. good on ya, mate!
cheers,
b



Friday, January 07, 2011

new year, new goals, new things, new races....

Hey yall!

Just a quick micro blog from the Toronto Airport. I am currently En Route to Chile for the start to the 2011 season. I am racing ITU Vina del Mar (Chile) and ITU La Paz (Argentina) back to back over the next 9 days. It should be quite an adventure! I have had my head down the last 8 weeks and am ready to race...even if it is January 7th!

Olympic Qualification is always a difficult and tricky process, but I am excited for a great 2011 season! I hope all of you enjoyed your "off-season" and had a great holidays!


Cheers,
Barrett