Viva cada día como es su ultimo

Every now and then, life gets a little crazy and unpredictable. The last 6 weeks have been that way for me as I embarked on a new and unexpected direction in my career. All things considered it is a good thing and despite the naysayers and warnings that I might be biting of a little more than I could chew, I remain optimistic and excited at the prospects that lie ahead.

The down side is that I have had to prioritise my life in order to get everything done and unfortunately that has meant that my TriLifeAdventure project has suffered neglect so as to allow me to focus on other things. To those of you that come here regularly, I apologise and please bear with me as I figure out how to work this back into my calendar. To the spammers, that clog up my comments page, thanks for reminding me that TriLifeAdventure still exists but seriously, if you haven’t figured out that this is not an adult site, then you are probably too stupid to be allowed on the internet. Please disconnect immediately and cancel your subscription with your ISP.

I couldn’t possibly hope to cover all the events of the last six weeks in one post so I have picked three highlights from the common areas of Ironman (or Iron distance if you prefer), ITU and Technology. Hopefully these will satisfy your requests for information and remind you of some of the amazing achievements that we have seen in 2010.

Chrissie smashes Ironman record

Forget the argument over whether it is an official Ironman race or not. With the WTC digging themselves a hole around the qualifying series and the growth in both TriStar and Challenge events, it will soon become irrelevant as athletes, and the public in general, focus on athletic achievements over silly side shows about who owns the title ‘Ironman’.

Chrissie was so dominating in Roth that her nearest rival, Rebekah Keat, who despite breaking the 9 hour barrier with an 8:52, was over 30 minutes behind. The net result 8:19:13 will go down in the history books as the greatest result by a women over the 3.8/180/42km distance for now.

I suspect that this will be short lived though as Chrissie appears to get faster each year and with her swimming improving to the point where she will exit the water with the lead men, combined with a biking ability that will keep her up there, we may even see her go faster in a year or two.

While the men’s times have appeared to stagnate, Chrissie and the other leading ladies like Julie Dibens and Catriona Morrison, continue to knock big chunks of time off existing race records and suddenly we are faced with the prospect of a women possibly finishing on the overall podium one day. All I can say is bring it on and I hope is spurs the men into action so that we can see Luc van Lierde’s 7:50 finally being improved upon.

ITU World Championship Series goes down to the wire

Unlike last year where Emma Moffatt won four events and walked away with the series title, this year has seen a new crop of athletes contending for victory while Moffatt and Kiwi, Andrea Hewitt, have quietly gone about collecting points for the overall series victory. With neither athlete having tasted victory it has been their consistency that has paid off.

With one race remaining, and bonus points on the line, it appears that Hewitt might have the edge. Her deficit to Moffatt is only 52 points and while Moffatt has suffered in recent weeks, only just getting into the top 10, Hewitt has still being contending the finishes which gives her the psychological edge going into the season finale in Budapest.

It is however not a race between these two as newly crowned ITU Sprint Triathlon World Champion, Lisa Norden, could take the title with a victory, provided Moffatt and Hewitt failed to get on the podium. Personally I don’t see this happening and its likely that Canadian Paula Findlay will produce another victory and deny Norden her chance for the double.

Orbea step out of the shadows

Unless you are Spanish, or a committed Crowie fan, you have probably not given manufacturer Orbea more than a sideways glance. Sure they have been around for a long time and their road bikes are pretty impressive but they have not done anything spectacular that appeals to the triathlete in me.

That was until I saw the Odin helmet.

Yes, most of us race with aero helmets on but lets face it, you spend hundreds of hours training with a regular helmet on so why not put down the extra dollars and get one that does a great job? In this regard the Orbea may just have trumped the Giro/Bell monopoly and produced something that will not only do a fantastic job but also turn a few heads in the process.

Quoting their website, Each helmet is built using a certain number of layers, and a specific material is chosen for each layer according to its features. The more layers there are, enables the surface area of the helmet to be reduced, providing it with better ventilation and a more compact structure. The Odin consists of 4 layers: polycarbonate, carbon fibre, EPS and nylon. Other features include:

• Retention system independent from helmet straps.
• Dual injection retention system.
• COOLMAX fabric pad system.
• Ergonomic adjustment system.
• Rubber support surface for a smoother feel.
• Winter Kit: a kit consisting of pads and an inner liner for winter use (great for those in colder climates)