Team Polar Ontario Blog

Owen Sound

hdart — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:18:52 GMT

Hey,

Is anyone else heading up to Owen Sound for the triathlon? I'm heading up to watch the sprint on Sunday and competing on Monday. Hope to see some other Polar wear there!

Heather

Peterborough 1/2 Ironman

Thomas Hall — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:14:01 GMT

Team Polar

It was great day for a half Ironman race. The winds were gentle, not humid and not too hot. Definately different than prior years when the wet bulb temperature has been sky high. For a change I arrived at the race site early and had time for a gentle warm up run before taking the plunge.

The swim was normal for a mass start. As always there was a few bumps along the way - nothing major. My swim times are a bit slow this year showing what happens if you only swim once a week. No surprises here.

The bike course design in Pewterborough suits me very well and thus I have always had solid results in my prior 6 times at the event. I had planned on holding back on the bike tthis year to have some extra "umph "for the run - by pushing less than normal output (watts) for a half Ironman race. Well, the race dynamics and the copmpetitive juices got flowing albeit countered by my race plan to hold back somewhat, but on balance the end result was I held my "normal" watts and heart rate for the distance....... The result was a 2:33:05 bike split with an average speed of 35.3 km/hr.

The run course has changed from the prior years. It now has two loops of Ashburnham Park (one at the start and one at the end) where you run on grass. Not so good. Heading onto the run, I was closely watching my heart rate with a plan to hold 4:35 pace/km with a heart rate average of high zone 4/low zone 5. This was working for the first 4km. Faitgue took over and dragged me down for the next 10km before I got over it. It was hot, not super hot. By the time I reached the last 3 km loop, my target run spilt time was a distant memory but overall I knew my time was going to be favorable. The run was 1:41:36.

I finished at 4:54:43 and placed 3/39 in the men 50-54. It was a good pre Newfdoundland 70.3 race warm up.

The bike legs are strong and I plan on running better next time out.

Bye for now,

Tom

Barry's Bay Triathlon

hdart — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:04:09 GMT

Hey Everyone,

I made the trip up north to a smaller race this weekend in Barry's Bay. I had never been up there before and the country is beautiful so it was a nice drive up. I must say this was one of the nicest bike courses i have ever been on. It was a new bike course this year but the pavement was recently paved and smooth with lots of room to ride on the shoulder at times. The course was an out and back course with about 4 steady hills each way and smooth fast downhills. Fantastic! It was a little busy as you arrived into town as none of the roads were closed but it was only one intersection. It was a well organized race with some good competition and it included a BBQ afterwards and excellent merchandise prizes, all for $30!

Anyway, I had a solid race and placed 4th overall in the women...just missed the podium! grrrr I definitely would like to go back next year to this race and I highly recommend it!

Good luck this weekend for those racing in Peterborough!

Heather

Team Polar at Muskoka Tri

Simon Smith — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:08:09 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Great to see so many Polar outfits in Muskoka this past week-end! That is a tough race. Great job to Heather, James, Jeremy, and Tom. There was also another Polar athlete there from another province.

See you at the races,

Simon

Muskoka Pics

hdart — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:15:10 GMT

I've posted pictures from the Muskoka Sprint and Long Course on Shutterfly. There are some good pictures of Tom, Jeremy, James and Simon racing.

Heather

Muskoka Long Course Tri

Thomas Hall — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:03:58 GMT

Hi guys,

It was great to see the other Polar team members on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Heather's pics. I don't know about everyone else, but I find the bike route to be pretty challenging and this year the road had plenty of frost heaves and bumps. It was a beautiful day for a race. This was my 12th Muskoka Long Course race.

Muskoka 2008 was mostly uneventful, except on Saturday afternoon while doing a bike clean up, a derailler cable snapped. Who has a spare one in their bag? Not me. No panic. On Sunday morning I expected to find either Racer Sportif or Enduro Sport with a cable at their booth and was shocked when nobody had any!!! Fortunately, I found a good Samaratin who cut a cable off a demo bike and put it on mine, about 30 minutes before the race start.

My race had no surprises. The swim time was slow as it has not been a focus area for me this year. The bike split was good/solid and my run was the strongest part of my day. Overall it was a "good" result. I gauge my fitness level on Muskoka and then get to work !! Looks like I need to get over to the pool some time soon .

Hey James, how do you do T1 in 37 seconds?

Tom

Muskoka

hdart — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:30:03 GMT

Hi Guys,

It was great to see so many Polar athletes out at Muskoka this weekend. I raced on Saturday and had a good race. My body definitely seems to like racing in warmer weather. It felt like a completely different race compared to last weekend in the cold and wet conditions out in Vancouver.

I was watching the long course on Sunday and managed to take some pictures of our team racing. I will post some and send them to you. Great race guys!

Heather

Muskoka Long Course

Thomas Hall — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:44:34 GMT

Hey Team Polar

Are any of you planning to race this weekend in Muskoka? I will be there and hope to see a few other Team Polar outfits in transition or on the course. See you on Sunday am,

Tom

ING Ottawa Half Marathon

Scott Busch — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:26:17 GMT

Finally, my first race of the season is behind me. Unlike the rest of you, I am a late starter, but nevertheless, I strapped on my shoes for my first race of '08 and my second half. I did my first half in Tuscon in December '07, as a training run and came in in 1:36 so I reset the goal and committed to Ottawa early in '08.

Ottawa Race Weekend is a BIG deal, there are races all over the place, and nothing is small. Take for example the 5k run that had 6300 runners, 7300 in the 10k, 8300 in the half, and 3300 in the full. Lots of people - lots of excitement!

Anyway, I was in the lead corral with a great position to start. When the flag dropped, the opening pace was torrid! First 2K were done and over with in about 6 and a half minutes - way to fast for me but what a rush! After we crossed in front of parliament, we made our way across the river to Gatineau. Somewhere along the line I had developed the ill conceived notion that this was a flat race - and boy did I pay. We ran in Gatineau for 7km of the race and all it did was go up. Around every corner there seemed to be another hill. I actually don't remember going downhill at all, well maybe once, for about a block, then we turned a corner and went back up. By the time I hit the 10km mark, my legs were feeling the opening pace and the hills. From the 10km mark through to 14km, the race went down the east side of the canal, we crossed UP and over to the west side of the canal and headed for home. A quick check of the watch and I realized I was cutting it close. Here's where I hoped my training paid off and it did. I picked up the pace in the home stretch and pushed it. I looked up as I crossed the line 1:28.36, a PB (getting a PB is not a real accomplishment when your first race was a training run).

Ottawa was a great race, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Next up, not sure. . . Moon in June in Burlington, ON or the KW Classic Bike Race in Kitchener, ON.

Mississauga Half Marathon

Thomas Hall — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:36:23 GMT

Once again the weather was great for the Mississauga Half Marathon. This is a reasonably large race (over 4,000 participants) on a race route that is net downhill. This year I was targeting to run at 4:15/km to achieve a sub 1:30:00 finish and almost got it.......Just had to run a little faster in a few spots along the way and it was achievable. Nonetheless, it was a good race for me although it confirmed that I need to get out and do some tempo/speed workouts to generate more speed.

Next for me is the YMCA Corporate Challenge, a 20km 4 person relay race on May 28th at the CNE grounds. My Toronto Hydro 4 man team is entered in the Mens 50 plus category. It is a fun event and typically raises lots of funds for the YMCA.

I have attached a picture taken by a friend. It sure looks as if I am barely running

Mississauga 10km

hdart — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:46:19 GMT

Hey Everyone!

I ventured back to my hometown to race the Mississauga 10km this weekend. I haven't raced a 10km race in a few years so I was curious to see what I could do and to see what kind of running shape I was in for the World Chamiponships (Olympic distance) in a few weeks. I had posted some 21 minute and change 5kms over the past few months but my previous PB for 10km was 46 minutes. So I decided to aim for 45 minutes.

The weather was great and the course was good except for some spots along the waterfront paths that were a bit 'buggy'. Needless to say I had a little extra protein along the way. Involved with the 10km was a student relay challenge where the students were running 2.5km and then tagging their team mate. It was great as there were always a crowd of people at every 2.5km increment and also some very excited and energetic runners during most parts of the race which kept me energized and going. I hit the 5km mark at 21:41 and felt pretty good so I thought I'd go for it and try to maintain that pace.

I struggled a bit between the 7.5 and 9km markers but didn't let myself look back to see if any other female was behind me. In the final km I was able to pick it up again and finish strong in front of a large crowd near the finish line. There were a few people along the course that were cheering "Go polar!" As I was about to cross the finish line I heard the announcer say that I was the third female to cross the line which was a nice surprise. My chip time was 43:11 which I'm very happy with.

Next race...Victoria's Duathlon

Happy Training!

Heather

Kids Triathlon Clinic - Rogers TV - May 5th

Thomas Hall — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:51:13 GMT

The date of the First Local news coverage of the event was Monday May 5th. Missed this in the other text.

Kids Triathlon Clinic - May 5th

Thomas Hall — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:47:38 GMT

This Kids Triathlon Clinic was a blast. We had 38 kids attend this great event arranged by Speedplay Triathlon in Newmarket.

I had been asked if Polar would donate a few goodies for the kids grab bag and if it would be possible to let the kids try out the Polar Heart rate monitor, CS200. Birgitte Boucher-Sills arranged that we could provide a few Polar knapsacks to provide as draw prizes for the kids. They were a big hit. Thanks Birgitte.

At the event on the run part of the clinic, I set up the older kids (10 to 14 years old) with the CS200. What a hoot ! Fortunately I had two helpers and we managed to get the kids set up....before they charged off to get their heart rates up. They did the clinic with the monitors on and they had lots of fun. Not a normal demo clinc for sure.

I had arrnged for Roger Cable 10 First Local News to attend and cover the event. The focus of the event was the kids but they did have a short part showing me set up the kids on the CS200. The video clip is at Rogers, http://www.rogerstv.com/option.asp?lid=16&rid=17&tid=24325 The sports is mid way through the video clip with a short focus on Polar around 20:15 , showing me setting up the kids.

I will upload some pictures of the event.

As a follow up, Speedplay Triathlon and The Aurora Ducks Triathlon have asked for demo clinics.

Waterloo Marathon

zweston — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:51:01 GMT

Hello Team Polar Canada (Ontario)

What a great day for a race! It was my first half marathon on Sunday and a treat to run in the sun with the Polar branded gear. There were several people there that we met at our Waterloo clinic the previous Thursday evening and had a great chance to follow up with some regarding the benefits of the monitor and also analyze the measured distance from the footpod (having not yet calibrated it I measured 23.3km over the 21.1 distance - pretty good I would say). I focused mostly on the heart rate pace based on my VO2 test results and felt great. My goal was 1:45 and I finished in 1:44:40. Fortunately I felt great to play a little baseball and soccer later in the day with my kids.

You may or may not have seen the article I contributed to in the Toronto Star last Saturday - I managed to work the name Polar in with regards to the importance of continuously monitoring your heart rate - check here for a direct link to the article diary:
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/417104

and also here for the article itself:
http://www.thestar.com/article/417103

The retail event was great - very nice to meet both James and Kevin. Hopefully we'll be seeing lots more of each other this summer!

Keep up the great work and cheers to the start of a great racing season!
Z

Upcoming Event in Peterborough

Simon Smith — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:38:08 GMT

Hello Team,

Just wanted to make everyone aware of an upcoming event here in Peterborough: On Wednesday, May 14th, former World Ironman Champion and Canadian triathlon legend Heather Fuhr will be the main speaker at the Holiday Inn at 7:30pm.

This is a "season kick-off" event sponsored by Runner's Life running store here is Peterborough. Tickets are $15, and there are around 40 left. Jeremy Tucker and I will also be giving a short talk about Team Polar Canada.

If anyone would like to join us, either e-mail me and I'll save you a ticket, or you can call Runner's Life at (705) 876-8960. If anyone can make it, that would be great!

All the best in your races and training,

Simon