Triathlon Canada Magazine Article

Nice Article in the Triathlon Canada Magazine:

Olympic Distance Under 23: Men

Andrew McCartney

Victoria's McCartney came back from being sidelined for the entire 2008 season to finish as the third U23 at PATCO. He followed up with two top 10's at ITU Austin (ninth) and ITU Coteau du Lac (10th). He took the $5,000 swim prime against a world class field at the Hy-Vee World Cup, and his season took off from there. Andrew earned his first Continental Cup podium in San Francisco, finishing second to Simon Whitfield, followed by a commanding win as U23 National Champion (and fifth overall) in Kelowna. He then put his world class swim to work at the Grand Final to establish a good position on the bike and finish 15th, equaling his best ever world championship performance. After an injury-plagued 2008, Andrew served notice that he's back and ready to take on the world.

Training Update comming soon.
Ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney

BLOG UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I think after 4 years of Blogging I am due for some change. Ciao for now,
Andrew

Camp coming to conclusion and McCartney, Spider Hunter!

So the lack of blogging may speak volumes. There has been a cold going around the NT training camp and sure enough about a week into the camp I caught it myself. It really put me in the hole for about a week and then I began to see the light. Monday I got back into training. Though I do not get sick often, when I do, I tend to hold on to it. So yes I have been training but it has been simply based off of effort. Everything goes into slow motion and if I miss-pace a workout, boy do I pay for it. Like in today's ride. I went in determined to make it a hard ride on myself and so I did, crawling home at the end of a 4+hour ride. [Was not intended to be over 3.5 hours] The cold has moved up into my sinuses, I clear my throat every couple of minutes and I think I have had about 3 nosebleed during workouts. [no stopping] We do have one last open water point to point swim tomorrow. Sort of a grand finale. But as the camp comes to an end, I am not too pleased with my struggle here. I did my best, and yes it is still only January. I just know that when I get home and I kick the fragments of this cold I have some hard work ahead of me. My own personal Training camp.


So while we were here, we stayed in this fantastic little house up in the cane fields. Only thing is with the cane fields came CANE SPIDERS. These buggers are big! and fast. I think the video speaks for itself. I have gotten pretty good at this. Pardon the language in the following clip.

Though the camp didn't unfold the way I had hoped. I did develop some mental toughness and being out with a cold allowed me to settle some niggles here n'there. So the upcoming training block should be very redeeming.


Victoria, I am coming home!


Ciao for now,


Andrew McCartney

1 week down, 2 to go.

So the first week of the camp is now coming to a close. Chapter 1 out of 3 complete.

Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was a "recovery day" meaning we still did three training sessions but with little to no hard efforts. Simply get the time in. We began the day with a fantastic point to point swim. I dove into the surf and began swimming. About 10 strokes in, 100s of needles seemed to stick into my left side. I either swam into a batch of jellyfish or a school of Sea Lice (As Kirsten described them) In my thrashing to get away, i fell quite far behind. So I drilled the next 15minutes to catch up to the others. I caught up to the second pack and was tempted to try and bridge up to the front but at this point we were way out in open ocean. I began imagining sharks swimming below us and so the thought of swimming alone was ruled out. We finished the swim met up with the others and ran 50minutes back to the Fairmont. That afternoon we rode the Haiku loop plus some, for a 90min spin.

Today our big session was a 90min run with 45minutes of Zone 3 running. We ran a 3km loop in the cane fields. I set a pace with my Garmin and held it. I am feeling the accumulated effect of the first week so I was on the low end of Zone 3 but a solid effort.

Tomorrow we head into the Mountain Stages. The first week has been an excesses of control, unlike last years Maui camp where I began with a bang and fizzled out near the end. I feel I am progressing well as we move through the camp. Nutrition has been spot on and my body has been holding up nicely. The next week shall be an adventure. Bring it on.

That is all, ciao for now.

Andrew McCartney

The Harder you work, the luckier you get.

So a number of solid sessions over the past couple of days. Yesterday we were off to a running start. Nice short run in the am followed by a very difficult swim in the ocean. This was not necessarily a hard workout, mother nature was simply whipping up the ocean. Some strong winds and powerful current absolutely beat us up the entire 4km workout. Even for strong swimmers as ourselves, it did feel a little out of control. I found myself struggling on occasion to keep my head above the water long enough to gasp for air. Still, an ocean swim in Maui, is an ocean swim in Maui, it was still very enjoyable. We finished the day with a solid run in the cane fields. a set of 20x30sec at 2.50/km pace and 30sec active recovery. Felt strong and everything is firing properly.

Today, we began the day with an early early swim in the pool. I felt fantastic in the pool today. (I believe this Video depicts how we felt driving to swim practice. *vid suggested by Aruss) The main set was 2x{200Fast, 9x100 Zone 4} Since this is yards I got down to 1.54 for the second 200 and averaged 1min for the 100s. Shortly after we rolled out for a 3hour base ride which turned into a bit more then a base ride but all in good fun. Austin, Aruss and I finished up with a ride up to Makawao which is a bit of a grind but the descent back home was a fun one. We finished off the day with a run in the cane fields from the house.

I finished today's training quite knackered but after a nap and lots of food. I feel ready for tomorrows challenges.

Hope all is well,

Andrew McCartney

*Thanks Pat for the Photographs

Day 1 and 2

Day 1 was a bit of a warm up into the camp. Swim in the morning was quite controlled then a very pleasant ride along the country roads that line the cane fields.

Day 2: Today we woke up early for a swim in the pool. It was a Upper body workout today consisting of 6x100's Band Only, 3x200 pull, 2x300 pull Paddles and we finished off the main set with a 600 25yd Fast / 75 cruise. I am feeling quite strong in the water. Holding good water and enjoying the warm outdoor pool. 2 hours later we met for a ride down in Paia. After warm up we began a 20min Zone 3 Climb up, up and up. Great Roads. We rolled along at a controlled pace. Second set was 5x8min at Zone 4 with 2min easy. This took some control as not to get too excited in the first couple repetitions. I stayed pretty consistent with three focuses. Good fluid intake, food intake and efficient cycling. Efficient meaning, nice round pedal stroke. Staying seated for the majority and riding just under the red zone. We climbed about 4000ft up the Haleakala Crater Climb. Just another 6000 ft to get to the top. We will work up to this. All in all it was about a 3hour ride. After a mid day nap we ran through the cane fields for 50min.

So now, I am off to bed, to prepare for another day of training. The key is to think one day at a time, what can I be doing now to get the most out of this camp. With that I say good night.

Hope all is well, n'ciao for now,

Andrew McCartney

Desperate need of a Hair Cut....

It took a Photo and a super hot day to realize....I need a trim.

Ciao For Now,

Andrew McCartney

Here we go now, to the North Side.

Simon, Sam and I have packed up and moved to the North Side of the Island. I am staying in a house about 3miles up Baldwin from Paia. Last night was pretty lonely with the place to myself but I will soon be joined by Jeff, Austin Andrew R and Coach Patrick Kelly. The Official Day one of the camp begins tomorrow with a jog in the am, Swim in the outdoor 25 yard pool and a base ride in the afternoon.

It will be nice to get on a regular schedule. The last week was such a fantastic experience. Many many swims out in the ocean. I did get a bit of heat stroke which put me out of commission for a day and a half but have made adjustments to my fluid/food intake. All in all, I have made some great friends in the past week.

So let the Camp begin, I am remembering last years Maui camp and the nights where I was not sure I would survive the next day. I am sure I will experience the same over the next 3 weeks. It will be an adventure.

As for now, It is time for bed,

Hope all is well n'ciao for now,

Andrew

Gold Medal Plates Maui Multi Sport Adventure Update (Day 3)

I arrived here in Maui late Monday night to the very balmy Hawaiian temperatures. I was picked up by Whitfield and driven to to the Fairmont Hotel. I was dropped off at the front and was greeted by a massive Lobby open to the elements. I got a bit lost on the way to my room. The next morning after a coffee with the gang, we dove into the ocean and swam out past the breakers to see the sun rise above the mountains. We did a short workout consisting of Starts and Exits. This is definitely a skill I need to work on due to the massive waves. It is rare that we will have to deal with this in a real race but it is good to develope those skills. After we must have spent 40min practicing our body surfing skills. That afternoon we ran for an hour around the surrounding area.

Wednesday we packed the bikes in a number of Vans and drove into the mountains and rode 3hours along what seemed to be endless roads along the Lava fields, through Vineyards and past some fantastic seascapes. On the way home Simon and I tagged on to the Svein Tuft Train. I had a grin from ear to ear. I had to pinch myself. Here I am, In Maui riding some of the most amazing roads with two iconic athletes. What a fantastic experience. I tried to get as much out of this experience as I could, I observed and imitated his actions. As we climbed, I would gear down when he geared down. Out of the saddle when he was out of the saddle. Drink when he drank. I know that I can learn so much from this trip and at day two I have a good start. Another swim in the ocean in the afternoon. Bit of a harder workout. Simon and I fought our way through the choppy rollers for a set of 400s ish. Again, another half an our of body surfing and again, another evening of water randomly pouring out of my nose.

Today we were in the ocean again at day-break. It was a short swim with a number of good efforts. Today the waves were less choppy but much larger as I noticed when I got slammed into the sand and left sprawled on the beach. Later this afternoon we have a run workout with some short efforts.

The idea for this week is to set me up for the strong efforts in the 3 weeks to follow.

I will have more Photographs to come.

Till then, ciao for now,

Andrew McCartney

Long day in the pool and off to Maui

So a true test of mental toughness is a 10km swim. Especially when you begin it with the goal of making it hard on yourself. It all seemed to catch up at about 7km into the workout when we began some Break point/best average sets. Over the next couple of Km's of swimming my arms would begin to go numb. I would be unsure if I am pulling any water at all. All I can do is observe each hand and try to make the imitation of a swim stroke. Swimming beside Sharpe and Brook made for an awesome challenge. There was a definite sense of accomplishment by all to complete the 10km swim.

On Monday I will be leaving for a month in Maui. The first week I will be attending a camp with Simon, Svien Tuft and Peter Reid. These three are putting on a camp of their own and I will be tagging along for a week. Then Simon and I will be moving to the otherside of the Island for the National Team Training Camp. We have a great group of athletes joining and we are sure to see an elevation of our overall fitness.

My next post will be on a very different, much smaller and much warmer Island.

Ciao for now,

Andrew McCartney