Sport is awesome; to have a worthy adversary and do battle, but be friends afterwards

Sportmanship at its finest @joao_pereira87 @tribrentmcmahon @ITUonline twitter.com/akjrussell/sta…
— Andrew Russell (@akjrussell) May 27, 2012

Big Smile

As I sit here on the last flight home to Victoria with a smile on my face, I
am so thankful.



For the last 24hrs I have been reading emails, facebook, twitter and text
messages congratulating me on achieving this goal of a third spot for
Canada. I have gone through the Olympic cycle three times now and each one
has been very different. They have all had there challenges and been full
of ups and downs. This cycle was the most daunting as I had to not only
play catch up but also gain back the confidence I needed after 18 months off
racing. With the support of TriCanada, my coach Lance Watson, Carolyn,
family, friends and sports therapy group I have been able to overcome all
the hurdles and now am healthy and ready to prepare for London. This is the
single most significant difference of all these Olympic cycles. I am at the
end of qualify in a mentally and physically very strong place. I am ready
to put in a great training and preparation block to be at my career best for
the Olympics. I was injured for Athens and not selected for the team in
Beijing, but both have given me so much to learn from and I have gained
strength through those experiences.



I am so looking forward to these next 80 days till the most important and
anticipated day of my career!



Thank you to all again that have helped me get here mentally and physically,
there are too many to list but each one of you knows the impact you have
made on me.



Now...



London, August 7th, 2012

Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

Madrid WTS

Last and final race of Olympic qualifying, the race with the most races
within the race of the whole qualifying period. All the calculations were
done, every athlete new what they needed to do or their competition needed
not to do. There was only one race to change the outcome of your chances of
competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

My race was simple, beat Joao Pereira of Portugal by one spot to hold on to
Canada's three spot country selection on the Olympic Rankings, simple,
nothing more nothing less.

Having put in a very long stretch of racing since my return only 14 months
ago, with no break through the winter, my racing through the 2012 season has
been up and down.

I started strong with a second at our Regional Championships and hoped to
build from there. A strong training block through February a bought of
sickness and antibiotics frustratingly resulted in a couple of lackluster
performances in Australia. However, I rallied back after the second
Australian race with a strong run and all round performance in Japan but was
left sore and fatigued. The build to the next event being in recovery mode
meant for a "lets see what we get" type of race, could be good, could be
tough. The result was another sub par performance from where I had been so
consistent the previous season. This brought us to this final race in
Madrid.

My body had started to come around for San Diego so tuning up for Madrid was
better and I felt confident in my abilities to execute the race I needed to
achieve the goal in Madrid. I had a worthy adversary in Pereira but new I
had more experience as have been this exact spot with one performance on the
day to secure a spot in Vancouver for Beijing. I was successful that day
and was confident I would be again.

The swim was fast with the Russian's blowing apart the opening 300m and only
a small group of 15 swimmers being able to keep up. I had a solid start and
was in the thick of the main group but near the front. Exiting the water
there was a string of guys ahead that I worked past during the minute long
run to transition.

Once onto the bike I pushed hard up the first climb which was only 400m into
the ride. We formed a group of 15-20 guys initially and slowly caught the
shrapnel straggling off from the dwindling front group. Our main group
swelled to 40 men with 9 up the road two minutes by the end of the ride.
During most of the ride Pereira was in the group behind me but during the
last two laps they managed to close the initial minute gap that separated
us. In the final kilometers of the ride Pereira came along side me and I
new he was there and positioning for a good start to the run.

I stayed strong and steady at the front of the group into transition as I
always do and got in and out of transition safely. Pereira however also had
a good transition and was five meters up the road. I quickly worked my way
to his shoulder and then started to apply some pressure. I ran strong and
comfortable to the first turn around at 1.25k and he was still hanging on
just a little back. I then applied some more throttle and pushed through
the 5km mark and then by the turn around at 6.25km I had a comfortable 20-25
seconds on him. I finished out the third lap strong and then focused on
maintaining for the last lap now that I new I had the spot wrapped and my
ticket set for London.

I normally would push everything I had right to the finish but after long
travel there and focusing on being healthy and strong once home, it made
sense to feel good coming down the finish chute and get on the plane home in
good shape.
Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

Gathering of over 100,000plus Athletica fans in Madrid for Spain Football final

One More Qualifying Race

That is what the focus is on now.

I didn't get the race I was looking for in San Diego but my teammates pulled out some good ones, enough so Canada is now sitting with three spots. Simon has surpassed the Portuguese athlete to make us the eighth and last country with three spots. It is now a matter of seeing how Pereira of Portugal does in Madrid.

My swim bike in San Diego was solid and I was at the front of the race early and stayed out of trouble through the ride. I was at the front into transition and left in 3rd place. I built through the start and settled into a group with Simon, Kyle, two Aussies and a few others. I stayed there for a lap but my legs weren't feeling strong and as I went onto the second lap my stride weakened. My turnover was slow and I couldn't get on my toes to run fast. I gutted out what I could but there was just a little snap that was missing.

It was a good hard effort but not the leg speed I have had recently. I will be regrouping and sharpening up now as I feel quite good coming off the race. It was frustrating as always to not race the way I know I can.

The ball is in my court now and I have control over this third spot for the most part. Things look good and they are well within my grasp.

I head to Madrid next week for the final race of qualifying on the 27th of May.
Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

My new release Radarlock & Crankcase from Welchy and @oakleysports Cheers!

Two more to go

After returning from a six week three race trip, I head into the last two races of the London 2012 Olympic qualifying process.

I have done another couple weeks of training since returning for Japan and feel strong and excited to race this Saturday at the San Diego World Triathlon Series event. I had a great swim block so now I should be firing on all cylinders and getting out with the lead group. My legs have now freshened and sharpened up since my strong run in Japan, so I feel everything is ready to go.

After the San Diego race this Saturday at 2:30PST I will head home for a week before heading to the final race of qualifying in Madrid, Spain May 27th.

It has been a long and hard road of ups and downs in racing and training since getting back to racing just over a year ago. The journey has been fantastic and challenging but I have had such great support all along the way.

I am looking forward to these last three weeks of qualifying and to some more great performances.


Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

Ishigaki World Cup

I was happier with today’s performance over Sydney.  I have been building my strength and speed and it is starting to come together.  I had a bad swim in Sydney and today had a better one.  I am still off where I normally get out of the water but a lot of time has been put into taking time off my run and bike strength this season, so the swimming will be coming back in the next while.

 

I worked hard for the first couple laps with a group of four to chase down the group ahead and got close when the main bunch behind caught us and then within a lap we got the group ahead.  A lap or two later the whole race came together at the front and I focused on good positioning to avoid crashes and be set up for transition.  I was top three into transition and got onto the run quickly and felt relaxed up the first hill.  I have been struggling with quad tightness since Sydney and felt them on the down hills and they were heavy on the ups.  I got gapped from a group of four at the 3.5km mark as the 2^nd and 3^rd place men surged and I held as strong as I could.  Heading onto the last lap I was gaining on two Japanese athletes and committed to catching them by 1km to go and get every Olympic point I could.  I gutted out a rough sprint to try and move into 7^th but came up a hair short and finished 8^th.  It was a good chunk of Olympic points and has now moved me into the first ranked Canadian.  However, our rivals from Europe have not jumped Simon and we are just outside the eight countries with three spots.  Still more racing to come and we have opportunity to move back into three spots.

 

A solid day and to be within 30seconds of the winner is the closest a Canadian has been this season and last season since Edmonton World Cup.

 

Time for bed and a long day of travel tomorrow.  Will be nice to get there after six weeks away.

 

www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com

@tribrentmcmahon on twitter

 

Official ITU bowling game in Taipei en route to Ishigaki.

Last day in Sydney

Went for a nice tourist run today on the harbour front around the Opera House. Beautiful city, much like Vancouver. Nice city center parks, water front cafes and some nice buildings and architecture.

Another unique shot from the best ITU photographer Delly Carr. Catching me showing off the flexibility of my Aquasphere Phantom suit pre start in Sydney.

World Triathlon Series Event 1 Sydney

Coming off a great training block in Noosa after the Mooloolaba World Cup I was looking forward to a solid race here in Sydney.

My run training had gone well and I felt strong and fast. I wanted to challenge myself on the day and go out with the lead group on the run and see where I could get.

After a rough swim and coming out 15sec back of the main group I had some work to do. I worked quickly with a group of other men to make some in roads but heading onto the second lap I decided to make to final bridge to make sure I got there. Sometimes if you wait too long it doesn't happen so I wasn't going to take the risk.

I was happy to make the bridge but may have done some damage to my run start as a result.

I had a good transition and got in that group I wanted to be in on the run but my quads were still holding some fatigue and I couldn't hold pace. I fought to hold what I could and then found some better legs at the 5k mark. I pushed hard for to the finish and pulled back a lot of time in the last 2.5k and managed to get up to 20th place.

We gained some more valuable Olympic points for team Canada but an impressive Russian performance has bumped us from 7th country to 8th but we still hold three spots just ahead of the Portuguese.

It was a tough race chasing and working hard on the run but again I will get some huge fitness gains. The goal is to keep pushing the fitness up on the path to the Olympics and get to a new level this year.
Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

Just landed at Syndey Domestic airport from Noosa after a great training block. Ready to hit the first WTS race of the season.

Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

FW: First World Cup of the season

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This past weekend was the first World Cup of the season and the first of five races in nine weeks to finish off the Olympic qualifying period.  The goal through these races was to start strong and then build to peak fitness after this World Cup in Mooloolaba, Australia.  

 

It was a very physically rough beach start ocean swim but I managed to literally slug it out and get back towards the front by the end.  A quick transition and some hard work up the first hill I was in the front group.  I felt strong during the ride and despite being knocked into and over a median I stayed comfortably in the front group.  It was an intense entry into transition with 40 men trying to squeeze single file through the three tight turns.  I managed to hold my position in 5^th place and lead the group out of transition.  I felt really smooth and strong on the opening stretch but once we hit the first hill that is where the lack of threshold training and sickness kicked in.  I had a limiter on my output so I was only able to run at strong tempo pace.  I pushed hard to the finish with what I had and came up with a 14^th place.

 

Everything looked great for this race coming off a really strong training camp in Maui in February.  However, a week after being home I got sick and ended up with a sinus infection.  I was able to put one last good effort in at a 5km road race with a solid 14:44 before fully succumbing to the virus.  This was one of the last strong workouts as I had been fighting off the sickness prior to racing but then it got a hold of me post race.  I ended up missing close to a week of training leading up to my flight to Australia.

 

I managed to get a couple of solid workouts in before getting on the plane but it was going to be a roll of the dice how things were going to turn out come race day.  I went in to it knowing I have done lots of hard work earlier and I was still strong. 

 

I was happy to finish strong but wished I could have had more as it was a tight race just up the road.  Regardless, it will be a great fitness builder and hopefully I will kick this bug soon and get some quality training in here in Noosa.  

 

With my 14^th and Kyle getting an 8^th we have moved Canada into 7^th place of 8 with three spots for London.  We now have to maintain this position and hold off the other countries now chasing us.  

It's a dog's life here in Maui