i m tired.... but i got a new toy.... and let see if it works!

today was a ok day

felt great running strong for 55 minutes, hard swim 30X100m with 20 on 1:20 and 10 on 1:15....averaged 1:05-06 for all of them. a ride and i m jsut about to go to bed now!

here s a video i made of the appartement in Las Cruces so my parents can have a idea of where i live! it s a small camera call flip video cam!!!!!! fun fun fun!

kawaska ninja 250r 2008

Well, still alone in las curces. The last few days have been good!

yesturday was a early morning 50minutes run, a 4.5h bike after battling some hurricain wind of 25-35mph into a hilly loop taking me over trans mountain highway. I almost got blow off my bike a few times..... it was simply insane. Then a short swim..... for a 6+h day!

today was a 1h35 run in the morning, a 4km swim in the afternoon and i m suppose to go out again for a 50 minutes run but the wind are now at 35mph(50+km/h and it s like a giant sand storm and you can see more than 500m ahead.... so, i might have to wait as the breathing is extremly bad right now. I would say it s a down side of Las Cruces, when i get windy.... the air quality goes down as there is so much sand and dust everywhere....

I had a bit of free time this late afternoon and after the swim, i was driving by the Kawasaki dealership and i decided to stop to look at race bikes. I never owned a bike, i dont know anything about them other than driving on for 3 minutes in a quiet street. it was a small honda 400 that my good firend paul tichelaar had in victoria.


Anyway, i seen recently that kawasaki make there legenday ninja rocket bike but they have a tiny model call the 250. It s a tiny engin but can still do at 110mph+ and make 0-60mph in 5 sec. so..... it s still a race bike but smaller than anything else and very light. In 2008, they made the bike identical to there high end and bigger model, the 600 and 750. So, the ninja 250 look like a freak super duper racing machine but as the tiny engin, tiny gas consomation and also, cheap price and insurrance. I wanted to see it and see if i like it.


I park my car in front of the dealership, right away, a sale person come to me to greed me. Is name is Mark. Poor guy, he dosnt know he as a real joker in front of him and that is change of making a sell are 0%!!!! Anyway, i tell him first thing I M ONLY HERE TO SEE THE BIKE.... i want to see a kawasaki ninja 250 2008...and they.... I M GONE!!! i get to the bike, i sit on it... we both go to the best meaningless talk about how awsome the bike is, that girls will go crazy for me because of it and that it s the freaking coolest thing in the world. I ask him to get me more details and price and all the cost associated with it.

HE goes away and in the meantime, i sit on the machine and dream of driving it down the NMSU campus with a girl wearing only a bikini on the back! Yeah,

So the manager come this time with the sale person and we sit at a table.... it s gona get serious!!!! He tell me about it, 3799msrp, 239 shipping 384 installation and other stupid bull shit cost.... for a total of 4 479$. They proced to tell me about there awsome promotion and that they can get me on the bike right now and i can leave with it tonight.... no problem.

I said thank you and i need ot leave now.... i jsut wanted to see the bike.




oh boy,.... they wont let me go that easily..... the manager...

Manager: what do you need to think about?, we can get you a promotion of 0% for 6 months no down payement and you age gone with it in 1h!!!!


ME: (thinking in my head... poor triathlete, have no credit.... no way i will get approval) No, i just want to think about it, i m not sure if i like the color or not..... i prefer the green one.


Manager: grabe the phone and see if they have a green one in the warehouse..... Yep, we have a green one for you!


ME: (fudge%$#.... i wont get away it that) well, it s ok, i m sure not sure about it....


Manager: but it s the last day for our 0% promotion..... then, you wont be able to take advantage of this special offer... do you have the money for this bike??? what is your situation?


Me: well, money isnt a issue.... i could drop 15k right now on the 750 GRX but i like the small one......


Manager: What do you do in life?


ME: i m a professional triathlete, so...money is definitly not a issu, i jsut need to make up my mind..... i will wait a bit more, i done need the 0% pomotion, i will just pay cash when i want one....


Manager: wow.... professional triathlete!!! you look fast!!!! We could offer you a nice helmet, jacket and glove to go with the bike.....

Me: ok.... ok..... i will come back tomorow .........

hummmm.... i really want that bike.... it s just a good size for me... but wow... these sale person are sure agressive.... i dont think they realise i m a professional triathlete and money grow on three in my house!!! anyway.... i need to find 4500$ now..... and i think they might be better way to spend the tiny bit of money left in my account than buying a race bike........ it s funny to think that any of my cervelo bikes are worth more than that motorbike...... hummm....maybe i could sell one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

good night everyone! train well!!!!

Ps:if anyone as contact with pharaceutical company.... please...get in touch with me!!!! i have a few idea in mind!

random stuff

shoot out this morning! Yes, paulo gave me the permission to go hard finaly and ride the group ride. I took a few hard pulls.... chase... had a lot of fun and got 3h of group ride.

I still have to run today and that will be it! Board game tonight with the boys???

It s been a awsome training camp so far and there is only one more day left. Tomorow night, i m heading back to Las Cruces where i will be alone in a big appartement. My coach had to make some change in his plan and i will be living by myself for a few weeks. My training partner, Zach is battling some injury and as gone home a few days ago so there is a lot of change in the air. On top of that, i had some very good friends from canada that were suppose to come train with me but that wont happen either. :(

Seems to me like i will go from been surrender by a very driven group of athlete to be alone in the land of enchantement! With 2.5 months to go to ironman arizona, i will have to get the work done alone.

But my good friend danny will be around so he better be ready to kick my ass on some good runs and mtb rides!

ok...time for a nap....

a few pic of the camp!

coach joel eating is vegetable......
on the training board of university of arizona swim team

Colin giving everything he as...................
me and kyle....first ride on my Cervelo r3-sl
a stop along the ride, great nice sunny day!!!!
Kyle ready to go!
Simon weighting my new bike.....light light light light!!!!!

pull set at U of A..... i m the one on the left!!!
simon just ready to push is 6 months daugher in the pool to force her to learn to swim!!!!
my roomate paul!!!!! he snore as much as i do!!!!!!!!
Jordan looking a bit like a seal......or a sea lion!!!!
Danno happy to be in short course yards!!!!

suffering......suffering.......

"When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool."

today was another solid day with a double run and a ride.... i m also very tired and caffein is essential to keep me moving!

taken from rappstar blog that himself took for joel's blog...... i m recycling stuff tonight!!!

Mt lemmon!!!!

What a day!!!!! Riding in beautifull sunny day with a great group of very driven athlete! On this pic, kyle jones, sean bechtel, me and colin been....himself!!!! Everyone was all smile knowing a nice 18 miles climbs was about to start!!!!

It didn't take long for the pace to heat up!!!! Jordan was up the road towing kyle and andrew was alone in no man land..... I had colin setting up a very solid pace and i was simply focusing on simon's butt.... dont let it go.... dont let it go!!!!
I was riding the CERVELO R3-SL. WOW.... This bike is so much fun!!! It s like a very happy dog always ready to play! It s just under 15lbs!!!! very nervous and stiff but these tiny seat stay make for a very nice ride.... by far the most fancy and nices road bike i have ever own! I m very happy with it! It look cool also!!!!
Pic of me at mile 16.... it was getting cold and i put on a jacket. There was snow on the side of the road and i was focusing on catching up on Sean and Paul that were my friends going up to the 18 miles marker!

The down hill was a blast! about 30 minutes of fast pace with nice corners!!!! The riding time was about 3.5h. I also had a nice 5km swim this morning and a 40 minutes run so it s was a pretty decent day!!!

The training as been going very well as i been very consistant everyday doing mostly base miles with mostly everything at endurance pace.... nothing crazy but still about 30h a week! getting the work done but also having a great time... i m very lucky to be doing this!!!!

good night everyone!

pictures!!!!!

TOYS!!!!!!!!!!! TOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT S CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Thank you to everyone at cervelo..... here s my new rides for the season!

54cm R3-SL and a 51cm P3C. I m 5'9 and like a smaller time trial bike so the reason for a 51cm. It seems to be fitting very well so far!!!!The R3-SL is so light..... stock components must have it at just under 16lbs! The bike comes with some very nice training wheels, the Hed Bastonge. This must be the nicest road bike i have ever own!!. It s a 54cm and i just finish building it. I will have a nice 3 hour ride tomorow with some climbing up mt lemmon so i should have a chance at riding it!
There is also the P3C that i also build this afternoon. I put on my favorite aerobar, the hed clip-on with vision tech base bar with a special cut and carbon brake levers! I really like this year colors and of course, i will have a touch of my own in a few weeks!

well, i will have plenty of motivation to ride in the next few days as i have to try these new bikes and keep get myself back to decent shape so i dont look like a clown on these nice machines...

thank you again cervelo!!!

And it s one more day up in the canyon.......

This was a solid day.... Up at 6am for a breakfast and a group ride in a cold 5 degres temperature. I sat at the back of the group for awile until it got too hard and dropped back and rode a more conservation z2.

I got 3h in and it was a fun ride near gate pass and back to sabino canyon. Tucson is definitly one of the best place to ride in the world!

got tons of food in but no time for a nap.....

I then got a 1h run at a relatively speedy pace with kyle. We ran in some awsome single track trail of sabino canyon.

Finaly, a 4km swim with a 3X500m pull paddle descending 1-3 and a 5X300m drill and build. That is a very solid day overall and i m just about ready to go to bed.

this is what our swimming pool look like in the morning... it s simply unreal... and we are gettting very good and fast at changing the lane rope from yards to long course meters... team work!!!

The group is pretty awsome here and it s definitly a good kick in my butt and a good reminder of what commitment is all about. It s pretty awsome to be surrender by such amazing and very focus athlete and be supportive of each others... I think many of the people here will be having some amazing season and will most likely be at the olympic games in 9 months. I m very lucky to have this opportunity to be here and get the work done with them!

good night!!!

where the time goes????

The training as been awsome but also very tiring. I just can't beleive days goes by so fast!

Saturday was a nice 4h ride finishing with 7 miles of climbing of mt Lemmon. Riding with jordan was a very humbling experience as he simply destroyed me all day long. The other boys were also riding strong and we all rode together for the first 3h. Some attack and littel sprint now and there but it s was a very good ride overall.

I ran 1h and that was it for the day!

Today was a 1;25 run in sabino canyon. We ran the phone line trail. It was wet on some bridge and we ran with wet shoes for most of the way!!!! Amazing scenery running high on the cliff of the canyon.

Swim 5km with some steady work and also had a 2h nap. I m tired today and looking forward to go to bed!

Tomorow is a 5km swim, 2h spin and 1h run! A lot of fun!!!

TUCSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I M IN TUCSON !!!!!!!!!!!!

i been in this place many times and it always been very good to me. I meet my amazing friends Brian & Mimi here and many more.

This time, i m back here for a 3 weeks training camp with the canadian national team. All short course speedy athlete. I will be here until the 28th!

Training as been going well but i m still not in great shape. It s a long process but i should be back to decent fitness soon. I m just trying to be consistant and get the workout in!

This morning, we where up at 6am for coffee before heading to the pool for a 5.2km workout. The main set was a 3X800m repeat on 45sec rest and a few more repeats on 100m on 1:30.

I m not resting before a 90 minutes ride and a 30 minutes run! But most importantly, i need to find a way to escape the high secrurity condo complex to get to the shop where they might be 2 new cervelo waiting for me!!!!!!! I can't wait to start playing with them!!!

pictures of the camp coming soon!

2008 start slow!

i m back from the christmas vacation! I dont know why i call it vacation because it s nothing like what vacation should feels like. You run everyday to see as many people as possible, eat way too much and go to bed late or very late. I end up burn out and sick:(

IT s still been a lot of fun skiiing and seeing friends and meeting new one. I had a awsome new year evening with awsome friends up in a cabin in the gatineau park. We also ski in the dark pass midnight!!!! a amazing experience!!! But on a training point of view, it was a disastor. I manage a few good training session but got sick from food poisonning and it lasted a good 7 days.

I m now back to Las Cruces and very happy to be here. Everything is quiet and i m getting a lot of time to recover and get the training done. It s also very good weather so that make training outside a fun experience! I m waiting for some new toys to arrive from cervelo!!!! i hope to have the chance to go to tucson for a short camp and get to try them on the amazing road out there!

Anyway, i will be better at updating this blog now that i m back to my routine! Tomorow is early swim with the girls so i better get to bed now and get some good sleep!