The MOST welcome recovery week of ALL time...

And there ends three weeks of the heaviest triathlon training Derbear has ever taken part in.

Ow.

Monday/Tuesday this week (my recovery week) were some of the WORST swims I've ever had, and very indicative of how hard I've worked the past little while.

With Tucson two days out, I couldn't be more excited to bring the hurt. Training with some of the coolest and best people I know will surely bring all of us to a new level.

What more could I ask for?

This song is a fairly good indication of how I felt at the beginning of this week...


And this CLASSIC song by REO Speedwagon is how I'm feeling now.



Next post will be from Tucson, and most likely will consist of me raving about DELICIOUS Mexican food.
PUMPED!

"I've become a wintry tomato"

This has been a running joke for a while, but I think it accurately describes how I'm feeling..


(The chorus sounds like the title of this blog post...)

Basically, I'm a human vegetable right now.
Training has been TOUGH. I'm not going to drop numbers or key workouts or anything, but lately weekly volume has been DOUBLE what I did during some of my bigger weeks in the summer of 2009.

The shock hasn't been the swimming hours, which is also more then usual for me, but DEFINITELY the running. I ran on Sunday on SUPER tired legs and it was a killer. Mentally I'm getting better at staying on top of my form and resisting the urge to cut the pace when it gets REALLY uncomfortable. Physically I'm hurting. This is the final week of a 3 week build, so I'm really going to focus on preparing myself for this week's workouts, making sure each one is purposeful and done to the best of my ability.

As a side note, I leave to Tucson in 11 days!!! My first triathlon training camp! SO PUMPED. Coming off a recovery week next week will surely have me prepared for whatever hell Noa is going to throw at us :) Can't really say I'm too upset about going to somewhere HOT. Especially after seeing all the NTC guys come back tanned from Maui... LUCKY

A short video for your viewing entertainment as well..


It still surprises me how many people haven't seen this.... ENJOY!!!!!

Ohhhh! And some GREAT songs!

Enjoyez-vous!

Professionalism in slightly obscure sports

While I am not really anywhere near the caliber of what one would call a "Professional", I've been slightly overexposed to the idea lately, through finishing "Racing the Sunset" by Scott Tinley, as well as reading a very interesting article on professionalism in Surfing. While the two sports are very different (i.e. surfing is judged, not necessarily fitness based etc.), the one very glaring similarity is their view as a fringe sport.




While this is very dependent on the region of the world you are living in, for the most part surfing and triathlon won't be on the evening news. Obviously if a Canadian triathlete podiums at a World Cup event or wins a local race, there will be exposure in the Canadian media. On the other hand, Tofino local Peter Devries recently won a WQS (World Qualifying Series) 6-Star event held in Tofino, and there was very little coverage in local, and especially national media. This was a HUGE breakthrough for Canadian surfing. The easiest comparison would be a Jamaican Bobsled team, to a lesser extent. How many people think Canada when they think surfing? This kind of event changed the perceptions of people around the world, yet it was largely ignored. Regardless, that's not the point of this post..

From my amateur point of view, it's difficult to label someone as a Professional or amateur. Here in BC (in triathlon) you are considered an "elite" if you are racing as one in BC. You apply separately to Triathlon BC and your application goes to committee review to decide eligibility. There is nothing in the application about number of sponsors the applicant has, whether they make income from these sponsors etc., so I would consider this different from the moniker of "Pro." Now, that said, it seems that it's very sponsor based. From what I've heard and seen, if you receive an income from one of your sponsors, that makes you a professional. That seems logical, but do race results have anything to do with it? The whole thing kind of confuses me...

I've never really considered pursuing the "pro" route in surfing, so I'm not exactly sure how that works, but my perception is that having a title sponsor, such as Rip Curl, or a local board shop, will earn one the moniker of "Pro". Since there are so few contests up here on the island, and still few just south of the border in WA, and OR, contest results do not decide whether one is pro or amateur.

Now that we have somewhat of an idea what defines "Pro" in both sports, let's look at both sources. Scott Tinley's book is super interesting. It really makes one reflect on the life ahead should one choose to become a career-athlete. He grew up as a lifeguard/surfer, something I'm very close to, and found love in triathlon. The emphasis of his book isn't on his life when he loved triathlon, but the day he realized that his "professional" career was over, and he had to look ahead to the rest of his life. He did not retire at a very young age for a triathlete, but still had many years ahead of him outside the world of triathlon. To be perfectly honest, reading this book scared me a little. His experiences made me realize that I need to be able to bounce out of sport should I get injured (majorly?), or simply lose the passion for the sport. I've done my Bachelors Degree with hopes of eventually becoming a high school teacher in the Humanities. I still need to go back to school to finish my teacher's degree, but it's only 12-16 months (depending on the school I choose). Basically, I'm trying to follow Scott's advice and have a pre-determined plan, because who really knows how far I can go in triathlon?

Now, this newest edition of Surfing Magazine discusses different issues with professionalism, mainly regarding "taking the fun out of surfing" and also the phenomenon of young kids making 6-figures from sponsorships. The article isn't the best one I've read in Surfing, but it brings up a few really good points. Namely:
a) Many people who are professional athletes are still unhappy, and their sport is merely their job
b) Kids as young as nine being sponsored and getting 6-figure salaries. Burn-out being a common occurence.

I LOVE the title of the article as well. People tend to idolize professional athletes with the perception that their job is "easy". In this case, people view surfing as the best job one could have, yet Bruce Irons (one of my favourite surfers) left the ASP World Tour because he wasn't enjoying the constant traveling and stress of being on tour. He felt 'forced' to surf, when instead he felt like he should be able to have fun and have a little more free reign over what he did. Luckily, in Pro-surfing there is a sub-category called 'free-surfing' which means surfing for magazine shoots, sponsor pictures etc. in exotic breaks. Back to the original point.. I think it's a very valid concern for people looking to pursue a career as an athlete. From what I've heard, the ITU grind is very difficult in-season, with the city jumping, little time at home, and exhaustion of general traveling.

But if I can make it there, I'm ready for all of it. I WANT it.