2008

Well, as always, there is change. Change in the form of a great Half Iron in Cranbrook, BC the Prestige Half, being postponed to 2009. I've competed in this race for the last 2 years now and it really is one of the best run races out there. I'm really dissapointed to see it not go in 2008.

So, in the Prestige's stead, I'm entering the Desert Half in Osoyoos on July 6th, a tough and hot race with a ride that goes up Richter pass. For the 2nd year in a row, it's been name the 2008 Canadian long course championships, and despite this it still gets a lot less attention than it's popular brother, the Oliver Half Iron. My CSR teamate Luke Way came 2nd there last year and I'm hoping he'll be too preoccupied with training for IM CDA to do it this year ;)

As for my first love, XTERRA, I'm a little discouraged right now because I've been denied the opportunity to race in the pro field in 2008 despite results that should warrant my inclusion in that group. I'll be pursuing an elite card with Triathlon Canada to try to gain "status" that way, but I'm not holding my breath. If I can't race in the pro category, I'll scale back my XTERRA involvement from the whole 5 race US Series to 2: XTERRA West Championships and XTERRA Mountain Championships.

Training has been going really well despite a difficult transition from eggnog chugging couch potatoe back into triathlon training machine. A huge aid has been the use of Branch Chain Amino Acids or BCAA's. I don't really understand the science behind them, but I supplement with L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine after particularly heavy training days and WOW! The next day I feel WAY less fatigued than I would have otherwise. I use one called "Amino-Mix" by New Roots but I'm switching to a product called "Recover Amino Power" by Sportsquest: http://www.nvo.com/sportquestdir/.

Alright, I'm going to go try riding my powercranks on my rollers... my next post may be from a hospital room ;) Thanks for reading!
Mike