It was an honor competing at my second U23 World Championships last month in Edmonton
RTC girls pre-comping
Rocking our speedy Nineteen Rogue wetsuits
The race did not go how I had prepared and my performance was sub-par. It was a long fight all the way to the finish line. I had a frustrating experience but none the less a good learning lesson and finished a respectable 16th place.
Getting ready for race start
Carving those corners on my Devinci racing machine
Out onto the run
This photo captures exactly how I felt at the finish
My racing for the weekend was not yet done! I had to refocus and set my emotions aside to race the debut U23/Junoir World Mixed Relay Event. We were in contention for a medal and I was going to have to put in a strong leg along with my team mates.
Trying to run like the wind and maintain our second place position
Tagging off to Tyler our team anchor
Our team ended up battling for a podium spot and won Bronze. It was an exciting and invigorating event! I was unbelievably proud to stand on the podium with my team mates and represent the Canadian flag. A great way to end the weekend!
The team with Simon Whitfield
Huge shout out to my sponsors the their support on my journey! Thank you for your help Devinci with Bits n Bikes, CEP, Nineteen HoneyMaxx, Altra and Titika. Also a mention to the Crimps and some of the crazy adventures we have embarked on, you guys have made me one tough cookie.
July has been a very busy and fun filled month. So many different feelings and results.
At the beginning of the month, I toed up to the line at the Toronto Pan American Cup. This was also a test event for the Pan American games for 2015. A smaller but strong field and I wanted to get myself in the mix. It was relaxing to have a race so close to my training environment, family and friends. I was lucky to stay with my Mum and neighbors the night before the race. Everything in this race went to plan. I was ecstatic to capture my first Pan American Cup win. I think I win the award for the most cheesiest post race interview:
Incredible experience holding that banner of my head!
Racing at Ontario Place
Winning all the hard ware with team mates Alexander and Jason
Awesome race for Johanna Gartman
A week later I was back at it. This time in Magog, QB for another Pan American Cup doubling as our National Championships. Unfortunately I had a crash in the first couple kilometers of the bike. I was still able to finish the race and ended up 8th. Not what I was hoping for but it's part of the sport and a good learning lesson.
The three RTC amiga's racing together!
I received good news after a disappointing race in Magog that re-fired my motivation. I have officially been selected to compete at the U23 Elite World Championships at the end of August in Edmonton... YAHOOOOOO! I had one last race this past weekend in Ottawa before my preparation for Worlds. It is our Provincial Championships which I raced for the 5th year and I was happy to take home the win.
Leading out of the water
Elite women's top three
Huge shout out to my sponsors: - Nineteen wetsuits, keeping me speedy in swims - CEP, recovering me for my training and racing - HoneyMaxx- fueling my bottles with all natural ingredients - Titika- looking trendy with my active wear - Altra- the comfiest footwear, especially the One Squared One last training block into Worlds! Happy Days Dominika
Last weekend was my seasonal World Cup debut. I raced Huatulco WC last year and the conditions of the course absolutely crushed me. I have an appreciation for the difficulty on this course. I came back this year with a little more experience and much better preparation. I knew what to expect in terms of the course itself and the hot weather. For me this race was a process to race smart and stick to my plan that my Coach Craig Taylor had set out for me. The goal was stay cool as long as possible, position myself well, and stay hydrated/fueled. I made a few minor errors during the race but I did my best to commit to that plan from start to finish, and execute a smart race. This resulted in a solid and respectable 11th place finish. I am happy with the consistency I'm developing as a U23 triathlete. I still have a lot of work ahead of me but I am slowly climbing that ITU points ladder. I'm learning every race and excited for the Pan American Cup coming up on July 12th in Toronto. A huge thanks to all my amazing sponsors. CEP for pre and post race recovery! HoneyMaxx for fueling my bottles! Altra, Nineteen Wetsuits and Titika! Happy Days Dominika
2014 was not the start I wanted to the year, but every athlete goes through ups and downs, it's part of the process. I broke my elbow at the end of August in Europe while riding in the Slovakian mountains. My wheel got caught while I was crossing train tracks. I landed on my elbow and fractured my radial head of my radial bone. Initially it was misdiagnosed and I trained on my broken elbow for 6 weeks and proceeded to race on it. Not a good idea at all, I delayed the healing process of a relatively simple healing fracture. So for the months of November, December, January and early into February, I was not allowed to swim or bike as it put excessive pressure on my elbow. Although it was a very frustrating period time in my life, my coach Craig Taylor help me put things into perspective and focus on some positive outputs of this healing process. We worked together on building a running base and focused on lots of technical work with my healthy arm in the water. In January our Squad headed to Clermont, FL for a swim focused swim camp! HAH! Which I couldn't fully participate in because I was swimming with one arm. I kicked a heck of lot in the water at this camp. Kick set upon kick set. My legs definitely got a good thrashing. None the less, the camp was a really good bonding time with my team mates and coach. Exposure to some sun helped after the crazy cold weather we had in Canada.
Finally in February the Doctor gave me the thumbs up to ease back into full training. I still remember my first week in the water and how weird it felt to swim and how SLOW I was. Honestly, I didn't even care... I was happy to be healthy and training fully again. With one week of swimming under my belt I competed in an indoor triathlon in Hamilton hosted by C3 triathlon club. It was good to get back into the competitive spirit and I ended up coming 3rd overall.
Running at the indoor tri
After, our squad headed to Augora Hills (near Malibu), California for a bike focused camp over reading week. During these 12 days I rode some of the most challenging climbs of my life and I had my team mates helping me push me up these climbs. It was at this camp where I started to find my groove and get back into a consistent training regime. All that technical work in the winter was starting pay off.
Climbing the absolute longest climb of doom....Deer Creek Rd!
Upon return from California, I had a great training block leading into two 5k road races. I may have gone into the races a bit cooked and over trained. I was far from my goal times at these races but I wasn't too worried as I had put in some of the best training sessions of my life. I also started to appreciate the process that goes into training. Focusing on even splitting and technically sound training sessions rather than fast times.
Soon enough, I was heading to Barbados after the completion of my exams (One more semester to go before I graduate from Uni wohooo!) for the first race of my season. It was a small continental cup and a great race to dust off my cob webs. The race was solid for me, but, not what my training was indicative of. I think I went into the race a bit too hungry and I wanted to race so badly that I tightened up. Lesson of the race...relax and have fun! I came a respectable 4th.
My awesome room mates in Barbados, shout out to Alexander Hinton who won the race!
After the race it was back to Guelph and straight into one of the biggest and most consistent training blocks of my life. I was swimming technically sound. My wattage on the bike was getting stronger and my running was coming along nicely. I was feeling consistent and happy. These great training blocks were fueling my confidence. After finishing off this wicked training block our squad headed to Dallas, TX to compete at the Pan American Championships.
The lead bike pack in Dallas
This race showed glimpses of what I am capable of. It was the first time I was in control of my whole race. I had a simple plan and I executed it from start to finish. I was proud of myself. I ended up accomplishing my goal of a top 10 with a 9th place finish. I still have a lot of work ahead of me but it was a step in the right direction. Many thanks to my sponsors CEP Canada, Altra, Nineteen, and HoneyMaxx Now I have short turnover to rest and get prepared for Huatulco, MX for my seasonal World Cup debut.
I am excited to announce my partnership this season with CEP Compression and Altra Footwear. Thanks for the support! Looking to forward to elevating my racing and recovery thanks to CEP and Altra.
I am excited to announce my new partnership with HoneyMaxx this season. HoneyMaxx is a an all natural, honey based sports drink.
I was very fortunate to try this product last summer and I instantly grew to like it. Unlike typical sports drinks that sit heavy in my stomach, HoneyMaxx was light and fueled me in my training and racing.
Honey is natural source of energy and an ideal ingredient for athletes. The all natural ingredients in HoneyMaxx help me race and train to my potential. I thoroughly enjoy using HoneyMaxx products.
For more information on this great new product here is link to the HoneyMaxx website.
It's been a long while since I updated my blog and I was actually scared I had forgotten the pass word to my account.
Here's a quick recap of my fun/frustrating filled summer and fall of racing.
Tartu European Cup:
I decided after Edmonton World Cup to do a low key sprint distance European Cup in Tartu, Estonia at the end of July. It was my first solo trip (without a coach, teammates, parents) so it was a little scary but a fun adventure. The Danish athletes were very accommodating to me and I quickly became good friends with them. Soon we were chanting our moto "We're red white and dynamite!". This event was my first European Cup so I didn't know what to expect. I managed to lead out of the swim (which was a huge surprise) and coming out of T1 I hammered the first 5 minutes of the bike to only look back and see that no one had gone with me. I ended up soloing the 20km ride with a gap of 30 seconds. This really paid off for me as I was only passed by 3 girls and managed to finish 4th. My run split actually fast for the first time in years. I was really proud of my result. The perfect confidence booster that I needed.
The video of the race is below. I get some pretty good camera time:)
Ottawa Provnicials:
Two weeks after Tartu I was racing again at our Provincial Draft Legal Championships in Ottawa. The water quality was not safe for the athletes to swim in so it was changed into a duathlon. I had fun with this race and won it overall.
Karlovy Vary European Cup:
After a string of good racing I decided last minute to give Karlovy Vary European Cup a shot. This race is where my luck turned. After having a good swim that put me in lead pack, on the first loop of the bike my chain dropped and I lost the pack. I managed to get my chain back on and was picked up by the chase pack. I was little frustrated but the race wasn't over and our pack was actually cutting time on the lead pack. On the last loop where the hill was my chain dropped again but this time my derailleur hanger broke and my bike was done. I had 2km left to get to transition, so I decided to run my bike in and finish the race. My legs were feeling great and I didn't want to finish the race like that. As I came into T2 my pack had just finished their first lap so I joined in and ran 3 loops with them. Unfortunately there are no pictures of me racing but if you had seen me, I had bike grease everywhere. On my hands, suit and all over my face from trying to fix my bike. I looked like I had gotten beaten up. Medics were waiting for me at the finish line thinking I had crashed. It gave them a good laugh. I was dissapointed and upset about the race but mechanical issues happen and it was out of my control. (yes I did get a tune up and check over of the bike before I left for the trip)
After my race I decided to stay in Europe for two weeks and visit my grandparents in Slovakia. I took advantage of the beautiful Slovakian Alps and got in some wicked riding. I did a few climbs that were spectacular and had a blast. Unfortunately on the last day of my visit strike 2 of bad luck hit me. I was in bike crash and landed on my elbow. I saw a doctor and he gave me the clear from breaks. I thought it would be healed in time for my double header in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Four weeks leading up to my two races was filled with as much rehab as possible. Training was not consistent and hard, I would take one step forward and then two steps back. I kept getting told that I was going to be okay for races and I really wanted to race. I think I was a little too optimistic but I was mentally eager and hungry to race even if that meant not being at my fittest.
Cozumel World Cup:
Arriving to Mexico I was a little skeptical as to how the race would go, I knew my preparation was not ideal going into the race. I was going off of the fitness I had built from the year. With a weak swim this meant I had to chase on the bike and missed both of the packs. It was a frustrating race for me but I fought all the way to the finish like.
San Juan Pan American Cup:
San Juan was only a week after Cozumel and at this point I hoped that another week of rehab on the arm would help to produce a better result. Although my elbow was feeling much better going into the race my feel for the water was a bit lost. Once again it showed that my normal swimming abilities weren't there. Coming out the water too far back put me in a compromised position and I did as best as I could to ride 40km in the heat solo. Once again not a great result for me. It was an incredible opportunity and a very big learning experience.
Now that I am back at home an ultra sound had confirmed that indeed I have a tiny hairline fracture in the radial head of my radial bone. This was something that was missed in the initial diagnosis and x-rays. I am taking a breather and letting my body heal. The cool thing is that I am taking human anatomy this semester so I am learning along with the doctors about my injury.
It seems at though for the past couple months I have had various strikes of bad luck. It has been a tough time for me but every athlete goes through their struggles and builds to our character.
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