June 21, Rush Hour Redefined. Swim. Bike. Run. Conquer the city. Register at

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1 June 21, 2015 Rush Hour Redefined Swim. Bike. Run. Conquer the city. Register at

2 TTF News & Updates VOL. 4 ISSUE NO. 4 JUNE 2015 IN THIS ISSUE TTF Schedule Highlights &... p. 3 Mandatory Race Briefing TTF Expo & Finish Line Festival... p. 4 D Ornellas Bike Shop TTF Community Partner, D Ornellas Bike Shop, will be onsite the weekend of the TTF to do any minor repairs, including: Gears / breaks Installing race wheels & gear adjustment Tubulars / tire changes This is a paid service and is done on a first come, first served basis. Open Water Swimming:... p. 5 Tips & Races Team TTF Spotlight... p. 6 Less than two weeks to go! The TTF is excited to be bringing back Toronto s only urban race that cuts through the core of the city for the fourth consecutive year. Last-minute spots for individuals and relay teams (of up to 3 members) are still open! For more information, visit: D Ornellas is also generously offering 15% off parts and accessories to any TTF participants who visit the shop at 1894 Lawrence Ave E for a tune-up! Wetsuit rental is also available at a discounted rate of $45 for all TTF participants. To make a reservation please phone

3 TTF Schedule Highlights Friday, June 19, :00 pm Expo Opens at Coronation Park 2:00 pm Mandatory Race Briefings Begin at Coronation Park (offered every half hour until 7:00 pm, inclusively, approx. 15 mins in length) 2:00 pm Race Packet Pickup Opens 7:30 pm Expo Closes Saturday, June 20, :00 am Expo Opens at Coronation Park 9:00 am Mandatory Race Briefings Begin at Coronation Park (offered every half hour until 4:30 pm, inclusively, except between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm; approx. 15 mins in length) 9:00 am Race Packet Pickup Opens 12:00 pm Junior and Elite / U23 Draft Legal Mandatory Race Briefing at Coronation Park (only one offered) 12:00 pm Swim Course Familiarization Opens at Ontario Place featuring blueseventy wetsuit demos - an Official TTF Wristband is required to get in the water 2:00 pm Swim Course Familiarization Closes at Ontario Place 4:30 pm Expo Closes Sunday, June 21, :30 am Transition Opens for Olympic Distance Race 6:35 am Transition Closes for Olympic Distance Race 6:50 am RACE Olympic Distance Age Group Race 8:00 am Transition Opens for Sprint Distance Races 9:00 am Finish Line Festival Begins in Coronation Park 9:00 am Transition Closes for Sprint Distance Races 9:20 am RACE Junior and Elite / U23 Draft Legal Sprint Race 9:30 am RACE Sprint Distance Age Group Race 10:45 am Olympic Distance Race Awards Ceremony 11:30 am Sprint Distance Race Awards Ceremony PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: There is no bike drop off on Saturday! TTF Race Briefings are MANDATORY for all athletes there are no exceptions! An official TTF Stamp will be provided to athletes after attending a Mandatory Race Briefing at Coronation Park. Race Packet pickup at Coronation Park is only possible with an official TTF Stamp + photo ID. All individual relay team members must attend a mandatory Race Briefing and pick up their own Race Packet (i.e. Team Captain is not permitted to attend a Race Briefing and collect all Race Packets for the rest of the relay team). Mandatory Race Briefings - Everyone MUST attend! Friday, June 19 & Saturday, June 20 All athletes are required to attend a mandatory Race Briefing on either the Friday or Saturday before the race. There are NO exceptions! We will be under large tents in the westernmost part of Coronation Park. Friday Race Briefings start at 2:00 pm and will be offered every half hour, inclusively, until 7:00 pm. Saturday Race Briefings start at 9:00 am and will be offered every half hour, inclusively, until 4:30 pm, EXCEPT between 12:00 and 1:00 pm. If any TTF participant does not attend a Race Briefing, they will not be allowed to race. This means that all Relay Team members must attend a Race Briefing, not just the Team Captain. All mandatory Race Briefings will be approximately 15 minutes in duration. An official TTF Stamp will be provided after attending a mandatory Race Briefing and is required, along with photo ID, for Race packet pickup. Athletes without the official TTF Stamp will not be able to pick up their Race Packets.

4 TTF Expo The TTF Expo will be held on both Friday, June 19 (2:00 pm to 7:30 pm) and on Saturday, June 20 (9:00 am to 4:30 pm). The Expo is an excellent opportunity for TTF athletes to take their fitness to the next level by catching the very latest in gear and demos that will be on display by our featured exhibitors. Located just minutes from Ontario Place the official TTF venue facility the Expo is the perfect time to meet fellow triathletes and event sponsors in an informative and casual setting. This year s Expo will be held at Coronation Park (711 Lake Shore Blvd. W., M5V 3T7) so after attending your mandatory Race Briefing and picking up your Race Packet, look around for the large white tents and come join us at the TTF Expo! Featured exhibitors include: Neal Brothers (chips) D'Ornellas (retail) Rosedale Wellness (chiropractor) Ombrelle (sports sunscreen) CLIF Bar (energy bars) Champion Systems (race uniforms) TTF Merch Honey Maxx (sports drink) Greenspace Brands (food product) Jolyn Clothing (women's tri gear) Protinis (chicken samples) Oikos (greek yogurt) Toronto Triathlon Club (membership info) Zizu (eye glasses) Progenex (supplements) Mizuno (shoes) TTF Finish Line Festival Are friends and loved ones tired of waiting while you make your way to the finish line? The TTF has a solution in store! The TTF Finish Line Festival has a lineup of fun, interactive and family-friendly activities to help pass the time at the finish line. Join us as we celebrate triathlon with music, games, magic and more! This year s participants include the Toronto Police Service, the Toronto Fire Service, featured athletes from Triathlon Canada s RTC Guelph team and more! Tentative Finish Line Festival Schedule: Don t forget! Finisher Pix will be present at the TTF Finish Line Festival to offer complimentary & professional group photos to help capture that special moment and commemorate an unforgettable Father s Day. 10:00 Magic Intro by Jake Ryle 10:15 Zumba class 10:30 Group Stretch with RTC Guelph 11:00 Live performance by the Waterfront Singing Ambassadors PLUS... Sports and play with the YMCA Face-painting Walk-around magic The Watermark Project with Lake Ontario Waterkeeper Games and drills with Toronto Parks & Recreation

5 Open Water Swimming Open Water Swimming Races at the James Dick Quarry Here are the Top 5 Swim Tips from the trainer of Team TTF, Coach Jason Hervey of TRI-TRAIN! Join Canada s National Triathlon Team coach Barrie Shepley on Sunday, June 14th for an open water swim race and BBQ - perfectly timed just one week before the TTF! Get open water swim series details at 1. PRACTICE OPEN WATER SWIM The majority of triathlon races take place in open water, so it s important to get as much experience out there as possible. Just like terrain changes in biking and running, no body of water is identical and even then, sometimes the same water gives new and different challenges every time you dive in (e.g. weather, currents and boat traffic). This is why a slightly different set of skills is needed to get you out of the chlorine and ready to take on the great outdoors! 2. SWIM COURSE FAMILIARIZATION Every race venue is different so know where you re going! Study the course. Pay attention during the Race Briefings - know on which side of your body the buoys (or swim markers) should be. If you can count and remember the number of buoys even better! And don't forget! The TTF offers a Swim Course Familiarization on the Saturday of Race Weekend from (12:00 to 2:00 pm). Please remember that you will need your Official TTF Wristband to participate. As well, there will be blueseventy wetsuit demos onsite! 3. SIGHTING The trick with sighting is to incorporate it into your normal rhythm without prolonging the head being out of position. Keep your eyes looking up (rolled to the top of your head exposing the whites at the bottom) and lift only briefly with your catch arm extended in front of your body. Continue with your rotation while taking a breath and get that head right back down again all seamlessly. Focus on a point way in the distance (a brightly coloured buoy perhaps). Depending on where you are maybe there is a building, or distinctive tree you can identify. Just be careful not to sight a boat or paddle boarder, as they tend to move around! 4. DRAFTING Although not legal on the bike it is definitely allowed in the swim (sometimes unavoidable).the idea here is that you get an efficiency boost from the person in front of you because they create a pocket of water that is less dense for you to travel through (like the wake from a boat). You can either swim right on their toes or to their side just below the waist. One word of caution as above with sighting, there s no guarantee they know where they re going, best to keep checking your own line! Practice swimming with a buddy, or even better, two or three! Take turns being the lead and you ll soon develop a feel for being in the right position. Record your time and see how much the draft was working for you vs. an individual time trial. 5. RELAX For some, being in open water creates anxiety. Try to relax, breath and enjoy being in open water. Tensing up only wastes energy that you re going to need later on in your race. Stay in your head. There s a lot going on and all your senses are being tested. Control what you can control and don t worry about the rest. Try simply counting your strokes. Yeah buoy!

6 Team TTF Spotlight: Sharon DeVellis The TTF caught up with Team TTF relay participant Sharon DeVellis, a busy mom of two and online blogger at the Yummy Mummy Club! Why TTF? My introduction to triathlon was actually through speed skating! Team TTF approached me at their inaugural race in 2011 after they stumbled across my blog at the time an experiment in speed skating that I had been documenting as an adult beginner. My son speed skates and I was curious to try something new. Needless to say my first time on the ice was awkward but it made for an interesting read! Team TTF thought I d be a great fit for the group and after a little persistence and volunteering with the TTF, I raced my first triathlon two years ago right here in Toronto. Any memorable or embarrassing racing moments? Because I didn t know how to swim before training for my first race, being able to finish that leg meant a lot to me. I realized you don t have to have a super front crawl I did back crawl, butterfly, whatever it took to stay afloat and keep moving! Funnily enough, the running leg of that race was open to regular joggers and not knowing the path, I almost followed someone straight off course! But the most memorable moment for me by far was crossing my first finish line. A girlfriend who I didn t know was going to be there was standing about 500m away. I saw her standing there, immediately burst into tears and ugly-cried the rest of the way! What advice can you offer for others who may be new to triathlon? Do what you can do and don t compare yourself to everybody out there. Fitness levels are all across the board; there s no point focusing on what anyone else is doing, look at what you re doing and do the best that you can. Make it fun and don t stress out about how fast you re going to be; if it will motivate you then sure but training is an ongoing journey. Be kind to yourself and always give yourself a pat on the back for what you were able to do. Especially for parents with young children who often feel guilty for spending time away from their families; don t beat yourself up! When you re happier, healthier and doing something for you you re a better parent and a better person overall. It s good to show your kids that you have goals and dreams and that you want to accomplish them. My husband and both my sons were there the day of my first TTF: they saw all the hard work [I did], were there as I trained and with me to see the end result, it was just perfect. Tell us a bit about the Yummy Mummy Club and #getfit2015: The parenting world is even crazier than the world of triathlon so for us, it s not about how you look, but more a state of mind. From the mom who has never exercised before and is now getting up and going for daily walks, to the mom who s really into CrossFit and marathons, getting fit and being active is an individual journey that you re always working at. You can t just get fit and then stop. We have a responsibility to be active and be that role model for our kids. When they see us sitting around on technology all the time then they re going to model that. With obesity rates as they are, this may possibly be the first generation that will not outlive their parents. It s up to us [parents] to show them and find the time everyday, even if you can only do 10 minutes. What do you hope to gain from the Team TTF experience? I want to help open doors for other moms and make triathlon more accessible. I hope to show that you don t have to be a super-athlete to do a triathlon and that a regular, everyday person can train and get it done. You have a picture in your mind of what a triathlete should look like and it s not always a mom with a muffin top! Are you excited to be doing a relay? I think the relay is the absolute perfect way for someone to be introduced to the experience without pressure. After training hard, when you cross that finish line or transition to the next leg and know that you ve done it, you can t beat that feeling and it s kind of addictive! I think the biggest obstacle people face is the swim portion of the race; even experienced triathletes have a fear of the water. When you re running and you re tired, you can walk, when you re cycling and get tired you can coast. But when you re swimming and you re tired you re still in the middle of Lake Ontario! You have to train for it, but it s really a mental challenge. Physically you know you can do it but a lot of people panic in the water. How has your view of triathlon changed since you've become involved in the sport? I did a complete 180; [I was] someone who had no interest in the sport and thought I would never do it. I thought I would have to dedicate my life to training and as a mom with two very active kids, I wondered how I would go about juggling everything. I think that s the view that s changed for me the most you don t have to dedicate 30 hours a week to training! It s very doable and the shorter sprint distances are great for beginners and more manageable to train for. What I ve learned along the journey is that people actually want to see you succeed. Elite athletes and professionals are open and willing to offer up help, tips, training and encouragement. So how can other busy parents fit training for three different sports at once into their lives? I personally did most of my training at home since we have a treadmill and spinning bike in our basement. But it s important not to look at the large chunks of time, if you have to go for an hour run and can t do the full hour, don t stop yourself from going out and doing what you can. Like I said, don t beat yourself up for the things you didn t do - instead, congratulate yourself on the things you did accomplish! Getting rid of the all or nothing mentality was a big hurdle I had to overcome, if I couldn t go full out I just wouldn t do it at all and I realized that was defeating the whole purpose. For parenting tips and tricks check out and be sure to cheer on Sharon as she runs the final leg for her TTF Relay Team on Sunday, June 21, 2015!