The Woodsock Diaries Pt. II

Now that the dust has settled on what was probably the hardest 48hrs of my life, I have some wisdom I'd like to share after experiencing sock purgatory:

1) Opposable thumbs are the real deal. Y'all are probably like pffft BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY TEXTING WITH THE SOCK AND DESTROY METHOD LAWD WAS THAT ROUGH.

2) You CAN drive with socks on your hands. As long as they are loose fitting you can grip the steering wheel almost the same. You will probably never need this advice.

3) Toilets

4) Some people will straight up ask you why you're wearing socks. Others will stop and stare. Teenage boys at Mucho Burrito might be like "Dudududududude, that's soo cooool man. It's like an expression of society mannnn". If that's the case you have to throw on some shades and pretend to be Neo from the Matrix.

ALRIGHTY LET'S GET TO THE GOOD STUFF

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How's it going everyone?! Triathlon season is upon us which can only mean one thing... RACES (and free Clif bars)

This past weekend I made the trek up to the Multisport Canada Recharge with Milk Series season opener in Woodstock. Now let's get serious for a minute. Everyone has goals for races. Depending on short term and long terms goals, these goals can manifest themselves in different ways. Maybe they revolve around hitting certain times or splits. Maybe they're distance based goals. In the case of Woodstock and given my trajectory into the race I had one goal

Not get caught up in someone else's race.

In the past I've tended to sprint out the gate. With swimming being the sport I'm working on the hardest to improve, this strategy has often seriously backfired. I've been known to get out on the feet of FAST swimmers only to die off after 100m and then be in a state of oxygen deprivation for the rest of the swim (which might just be the worst thing ever), T1, and the first part of the bike. It's just NOT a smart way to race. My swim technique has been improving, but I knew I didn't have top end speed. My goal was to try and stay relaxed not only for the swim, but to bring that same mentality into the rest of the race. I exited the swim feeling like I had stayed relaxed but in future races, I'd like to get a little bit more uncomfortable. Being the first race of the season, I now have a good indicator of where my fitness is at. Playing it a little cautious of the front end of the race wasn't a bad idea for this race, but I'm looking to be a little more aggressive in the water for the rest of the season.

I have mixed feelings about the bike. Going back to the topic of caution, I feel like I was overly-cautious on the bike. Racing in windy conditions with a disc would have been a day-ruiner in years past, but I was actually happy with how I managed the wind and hills. However while trying to hold steady, I might have been just a little too relaxed. But at the same time, there's a lot of positivity there as well- I'm farther ahead fitness-wise than I gave myself credit for! Looking forward to crushing some rides and dropping some WOTS.

Happy with my run! For the first half I was seriously contemplating the meaning of life because my legs felt like cheese strings. Running off the bike is definitely a skill that requires practice. It's almost an entirely different feeling running off the bike compared to say a 5km road race. For those newer to the sport, don't neglect this aspect! But don't overdo it either! After reaching the turn-around and having an opportunity to scope out where everyone was, I knew I had enough energy to put down a "fast" second half. One of my friends and role model's Pro Triathlete Cody Beals dropped some serious wisdom at the MSC Awards ceremony last December. He said one of the best pieces of advice anyone had ever given him was: "They're never as far ahead as you think". This seriously got me going and I entered caveman mode. For those who saw/heard me booking it down the homestretch grunting like a pig I'm really sorry you had to witness that but at the same time, I'm not going to lie, it was pretty sweet. I managed to catch my good friend John "Jober" Pulford with about 150m to go and narrowly lost out in a 3 way sprint finish with two other competitors. Nice work homies! You can check out John's profile on the teamLPC Hurdle Project page righttttttt here> here. After sprinting my skinny little legs off, I was pretty out of it for a bit.

Then I saw a face in the distance...

I have a dream. Some people have called me crazy, others have nodded along when I tell them of my visions. Unity is something this world is missing. Rallying behind a common cause is so "tough" and "difficult" that many are content to allow injustice to continue while they lay idle. I have a dream and one day I will achieve it.

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I am going to shave Lionel's mustache.

As a young and impressionable person, I feel like I have been personally victimized by Lionel Sander's facial hair. Lionel is a great guy! But that mustache changes him. Every time he 'staches up, he starts coming to the pool with plaid shirts, beaver pelts, and rock candy. I didn't even know they make rock candy anymore like holy geez it's 2016 we have Kit Kats?? One time we were talking by the pool and he wouldn't stop using the word "axe" in our conversation:

"Can I axe you a question young lad?"- Lionel

"Did you just say "axe" instead of "ask"? Also why do you have a canoe?"- Prak

"Aye yes, a lot of people have been axe-ing about my canoooo. I figured canoooos are fast and I want to be fast, so m-axe-tering the canooooo will make me a better swimmer!"- Lionel

"You realize that makes little to no sense."-Prak

"You're axe-ing for it sonny."- Lionel

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In case you haven't heard, I once again fell short this weekend in a bet with Lionel. While there was no shaving on the line (don't worry it's coming), there was something maybe even more precious on the line: The Sanctity of Un-socked Hands. Just like our previous bets (The Tecumseh 13 Challenge, The Leamington Old-Skool Challenge, AND THE WINDSOR INDOOR TRIATHLON WHICH NO ONE TALKS ABOUT BUT I ACTUALLY WON????????!!!!!), I was given a 13% buffer period to finish within.

In short, that didn't happen.

If you missed the ridiculousness of my 48hrs in sock-onys, you can check it out here> here.

If that Saucony joke pushed you over the edge and you're done with my bad jokes that really socks.

But if you're willing to swag your boy some more time, check out the video Erin took as well as the Slowtwitch article that MSC Founder and President John Salt wrote up about Lionel and I. In all seriousness, it was really cool of Lionel to come and race with us. What makes that all the more cooler (and impressive!) is that he did this race after his hardest week of training yet. Homie is the real deal. It was great meeting the rest of the Ambassador team and getting to socialize with friends new and old after the race. MSC races truly mesh that local and big-time feel. Kudo's to John's team and mother nature for such a great weekend.

Until next time!

P