5 Questions

In my daily scouring of the blog world (refuse to call it the blogosphere) I came across THIS blog and saw a post I found quite interesting. The idea is someone who has glanced through your blog to get an idea of the type of person you are asks 5 questions for you to answer, so its like a mini interview. I left a comment and here they are.

1. What has been your biggest challenge during training, and how have you overcome it?

My biggest challenge so far in training has been consistency and flexibility. Very rarely have I actually had muscle injuries, it is always some sort of complication of lack of flexibility resulting in knee pain, ITB issues, hamstrings, etc. For example right now I am fearful of getting on my bike because of my IT band, worried that the piercing pain will come back. The reason I listed consistency in my challenges is because more often than not, these injuries are the result of inconsistent training regimes, I will not train for two weeks in one sport and then all of a sudden go all out. Net result, my parts get super tight. Also the consistency in the amount I stretch, I have a really bad habit of stretching as a consequence of injury as opposed to in prevention. Overcoming this in the 2009 season I am trying to focus on stretching at least a little bet everyday, even if that just means 5 minutes at my desk at school.

2. Why have you made triathlons your sport of choice? 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite a competitive person. Before entering the world of triathlon, I raced track and field and cross country. There are two problems I encountered with the running world, the first being I kept getting injured. I don't know if its just my physiology, but I wasn't able to handle the mileage, shin splints were a painful memory from high school flaring up each fall with cross country and then again in the spring with indoor track season. 

The second reason I left track was because I wasn't particularly good at it. I was good compared to high school track team kids, however, when I raced in the Quebec Federation I got whooped. I remember one day racing provincials, finishing 4th in the 800m, respectable enough right? Well I ran a 2:08 and Josh Wolfe ran 1:52 if memory serves correctly. 16 seconds, thats over 100 meters behind. I realized that I was a good runner, but not matter what would never be great. When I hit CEGEP (transition school between high school and university in quebec) scheduling conflicts prevented me from being able to run track. Abbott (my CEGEP) did have a swim team though, and it was really well organized so all levels could race, being a beginner swimmer, this offered a challenge and a way out of the running injuries. Two years of that and I decided to combine my two sports, swimming and running with my first triathlon. After that first one I loved it and was hooked. Ask anyone who knew me back then, you couldn't get me to shut up about it. I loved swimming and I loved running, the second I got on a bike, I enjoyed that even more. 

What I loved most was that it offered a great way to avoid injuries because whenever my legs hurt, I simply stay off them for a few days and do a swim focus. Also, since I've gotten pretty good at swimming and always had that background in running, I find that I excel in triathlons to a much higher level than I would have in either sport individually. 

3. What is one trait that you most admire in another person? 

I admire motivation, and dedication, no matter how hard I train, I feel like I could still be doing more but would have to sacrifice my current lifestyle. My biggest load week last year was only in the range of 15-18 hours. I have friends these days who have been doing that all winter. I'm constantly impressed at the amount of time and dedication they can put in despite their crazy busy schedules. Two people I'm really excited to see race in the spring are Facundo Chernikoff and Nick Gottfried. Both of them have put in huge training mileage over the winter and I think we will see huge improvements over last year. 

4. You seem to love silly pictures. What is your current favorite? 

I have lots of favorite photos that I've seen online, however, I don't think any beat this one that was taken by a friend of mine just yesterday outside my building at school. This may not be the funniest photo online, however, since its something that I was able to see in person it makes me laugh every time. Check it out, tell me if you can spot the problem.

The best part I think is the fact that clearly the parking lot wasn't full, the lane on the right still has open spots. 

5. What do you like best about being Canadian / from Vancouver? 

Wow, huge question, where do I even begin. About being Canadian, well there is all the cheesy stuff like when I travel people like me for being Canadian and there is an inbred pride that goes along with that. But a more down to earth response would be because its a big country (geographically) but still small world. Just to give an example, I was talking with a friend from St John's Newfoundland, and I only knew one other person from there, sure enough, they went to high school together. So here we are in Vancouer 6000km away and have a mutual friend. In Canada I find that you get that small world effect all the time. This is especially evident in the Triathlon World. I dare say you could name any triathlete in Canada that I couldn't find 2 degree's of separation from. Every race I go to I meet people I know or have heard about. 

And to answer the second question, I'm not actually from Vancouver, I was born in Ottawa ON, and grew up in Moncton NB and Montreal QC. So instead of saying what I like about being from any of those, I will describe what I like about being in Vancouver now. And it can be summarized in one word; Environment. Its amazing for all my sport passions, I swim outside all winter long, I can bike and run in the most amazing settings you've ever seen, and it never gets TOO cold. How can I complain about that.

Anyways, this post has been long enough.

I'm finishing the last part of the cycling study right now, will post the results probably sometime tomorrow.

Oh, and this questionnaire, if you want me to ask 5 question for you, simply post a comment and over the next few days I'll check out your blog and come up with 5.