Rob Eakin Triathlete

Morning Coffee

One week until Nationals in Kelowna. Until then some random morning (mostly Olympic) thoughts...

• One week until Nationals also means one week until the triathlon races at the Olympics (Sunday night for the women, Monday night for the men). Simon seems poised to win another medal but is going to be hard pressed to repeat his gold medal performance from Sydney against competition like Gomez and Docherty. But he may have a secret weapon with support like this.
• A quick kudos to CBC for their online coverage of the Olympics. In the past two days I've watched sports that I've never had a chance to see like weightlifting and fencing and, just as importantly, used their website to actually learn what was going on and appreciate them. More than any of that though, it also allows those who are involved in and passionate about their sport to watch their events from start to finish instead of just getting a 10 second clip about how Canadians did in the event. Knowing I get to watch the triathlon races uninterrupted is awesome. If you haven't already, go check it out.
• On an Olympic note, the men's eight rowing team was supposed to start their redemption tour but weather delayed their first heat until tonight. If you don't know their story, here's a good primer with a video for those adverse to reading (you know who you are). Knowing Ben (you know you've made it when you have a wikipedia page) from university when he was not as dedicated an athlete as he is now (I'll spare him the specifics) I'll be watching all the way through and cheering them on. My favourite quote from them: "We train this hard so that on a bad day we can still win gold. That's the bottom line."
• More Olympics. I mentioned Kyle Shewfelt's battle to compete at the Olympics last week and while he didn't make it to the gymnastics final there was a moment worth mentioning. On his first go at the vault in qualifying he "nailed" the Shewfelt (yes, he has a move named after him already). But it was the look on his face immediately afterwards that caught me (I'll post a video if I can eventually find it). It was one of an athlete who had done everything he possibly could to prepare and performed exactly as he hoped, no matter what score the judges gave him. As he said afterwards, "That was perfection. That was beautiful."
• One last Olympic comment. Michael Phelps is a freak. The only way he doesn't win 8 golds is if one of his teammates lets him down on one of the relays.

In terms of training, slogged through a 90 minute ride on the trainer yesterday but found a little something at the pool in the afternoon (thanks to a tip about my breathing from Alan) so that made me feel a little better despite being tired. Combo bike-run session at the track today and then a rest day before some final preparations next week.