Sponsor Spotlight - Team Aquatics Supplies

What do you think of when you hear the words "outlet" or "warehouse?"  If you are like me, you think of deals!  And that is exactly what I found when I visited  Team Aquatic Supplies Calgary location.  (Phillips Park Mall, D7, 6115 3rd Street SE, Calgary, AB, T2H 2L2)

They have a massive selection of the latest styles of swimsuits; and alongside one wall, there are bins of discounted "Grab Bag" swimsuits.  (Don't forget, MRT athletes receive an additional discount!)  If order a "Grab Bag" suit online, you receive your specified size, but the style will be a surprise.  If you come into the store, you can rifle through the bins and choose your suit.  Either way, this is where you need to go to buy your swimsuits!

Team Aquatic Supplies also carries a wide range of swimming accessories:  From swim staples like goggles, pull buoys, fins, swim caps, and paddles, to specialty items like underwater MP3 players, books, dvds, and swimming watches, they really do carry just about anything and everything related to swim-training.  And if they don't have the item you are looking for, ask.  Craig Pollard, manger of the Calgary location told me that they often source out and bring in new products due to customer requests.

The same idea goes for the website.  I noticed that the Calgary location had some items that weren't listed on the website.  (I recently placed an order of paddles from their site, and when I was at the warehouse, discovered they had an even wider selection of styles and brands of paddles.)  If you are on the Team Aquatic website and don't see what you are looking for, give your nearest Team Aquatic Supplies location a call.  The chances are really good that they carry it.

The bottom line?  If you are looking to make any kind of swim-related purchase, check out Team Aquatic Supplies first!

You can order directly from their website https://www.team-aquatic.com/store/index.php or visit one of their four well-stocked warehouse locations across Canada and three retail locations in British Columbia.

Warehouse Locations:
North Vancouver
104-2411 Dollarton Hwy.
North Vancouver, BC V7H 0A3
info@team-aquatic.com
Tel:  604-980-2805
Toll-free: 1-800-234-4833
Fax:  604-980-2814

Calgary
Phillips Park Mall
D7, 6115 3rd Street SE
Calgary, AB T2H 2L2
calgary@team-aquatic.com
Tel:  403-319-2000
Toll-free:  1-800-661-7946
Fax:  403-319-2002

Burlington
8-4155 Fairview Street
Burlington, ON L7L 2A4
east@team-aquatic.com
Tel:  905-632-2590
Toll-free:  1-888-259-7946
Fax:  905-632-0902

Scarborough
11-1085 Bellamy Rd, N
Scarborough, ON M1H 3C7
omni@team-aquatic.com
Tel:  416-431-3334
Toll-free:  1-800-461-3309
Fax:  416-431-3338

The Swim & Fitness Shop @ Watermania
14300 Entertainment Blvd.
Richmond, BC  V6W 1K3
Tel:  604-277-1260

The Swim & Fitness Shop @ Nanaimo
Lobby of the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre

741-Third Street
Nanaimo, BC  V9R 1W9
Tel:  250-740-0372

The Swim & Fitness Shop @ Kamloops
Lobby of the Tournament Capital Centre
910 McGill Road
Kamloops, BC  V2C 6N6
Tel:  250-372-5305

Comments that hurt your triathlon performance

Spring Update

The 2012 tri season has officially arrived!   MRT athletes have been clocking PB's and standing on podiums...

Here is sampling of what we've all been up to:

• Nick Doulias has been working so hard on his swimming and took 10 sec off his 100m time!
• Sarah Miller swam a 5km event then shortly after ran a 10km PB of 45:44!
• The Westshore Tri in Victoria didn't stand a chance against MRT athletes: Sonja Futehally and Carla Rhodes took 1st and 2nd, Matt Patriquin 4th in the men's race, John Peebles, Denise Champion, Christina Stoehr, and Kathy Davidson all place 1st in their AG!!
• Patty Infusino came in 9th in her AG at Ironman Texas!
• Heather Myers earned a PB in the swim and the bike at Florida 70.3!
• Kim Mills Connell took 3rd in her AG at the Try-a-Tri at U of C
• Cheryl Jones successfully completed her first marathon at the Calgary marathon!
• Todd Pringle earned himself a 1/2 marathon PB of almost 10 minutes at the Calgary event!

And our pro triathletes have been at it too:

• Sara Gross raced her way into 3rd at St. Croix 70.3 and 4th at Ironman Brazil!
• Rachel Kiers has been on fire this year earning a 10km PB in April, placing 2nd at the Bare Bones Duathlon, 1st at the Blossom 10 Miler, and 1st at the Shawnigan Lake 1/2 iron-distance!

Coach Rachel's Super-Power Salad

From the kitchen of MRT coach and professional triathlete Rachel Kiers...

Choose your own preferred amounts of the following:

• Grilled chicken (Rachel chops up some chicken breasts and adds lemon and herbs in the fry pan)
• Strawberry
• Cucumber
• Orange pepper
• Quinoa
• Black beans
• Red onion
• Spinach/greens
• Almonds - slivered or whole
• Shredded carrot

And for the dressing, Rachel uses a Curried Mango Vinaigrette recipe that she found online: 

•  3/4 cup mango chutney
• 2T lemon juice
• 1T peanut oil
• 1t honey
• 1/4 cup mint
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• salt/soy
• lemon zest

The vinaigrette will be good in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

 Rachel is KNOWN for her culinary prowess -- she keeps things simple (ie meals don't take hours to prepare), nutritious, and loaded with flavour.  Have a go at this recipe and enjoy!

Thanks Rachel!

3rd Annual Penticton, BC PHAT Camp

Mercury Rising Triathlon is pleased to announce our infamous triathlon camp (affectionately coined PHAT camp for no other reason than because it sounds cool!) will be taking place in Penticton, BC again this year: July 8th - July 15th, 2012.

This camp is open to EVERYONE and ANYONE! You don't have to be an MRT athlete to participate and reap the rewards of a solid block of training!

You can expect an intensive tri camp that focuses on both volume and quality in all three disciplines, all under the careful guidance of our professional coaches. PHAT Camp is also perfect timing for those athletes prepping for Ironman Canada and Calgary 70.3.

The MRT PHAT camp includes:

• 6.5 days of full-time coached training

• Ride the Ironman Canada course

• Run the Ironman Canada course

• Technical sessions for open water swimming, cycling, and transition practice

• 7 night accommodation at Spanish Villas on Lakeshore Dr

• 3 group dinners

• Talks from coaches

Mercury Rising Triathlon caters to ALL ability levels and race goals. Cost is $1500.

Here is a tentative schedule and what you can expect at the camp:

Sunday - arrive, optional easy SWIM, intro dinner

Monday - am; RUN intervals, noon; BIKE clinic (puncture change and group riding techniques) and easy spin, pm; SWIM

Tuesday - BIKE IMC course, RUN off, group dinner, evening talk

Wednesday - am; BIKE, pm; SWIM hard

Thursday - am; MINI TRIATHLON and transition practice, pm; OFF!

Friday - am; SWIM solid, pm; BIKE hard/hilly, evening talk

Saturday - am; long RUN IMC course, pm; SWIM & optional 30 min RUN, final dinner

Sunday - pack up & leave!

If you have never attended a tri camp before, THIS is the one to attend. There is an amazing team dynamic that forms when people train together: New friendships, new skills, and new fitness all rolled into one. Come for a week of fun with us and earn bragging rights that you survived PHAT CAMP 2012!

Interested? Send us an email for information on how to register: info@mercuryrisingtriathlon.com

We look forward to seeing you!

Your coaches,

Carrie, Sara, Clint and Rachel

Triathlete Training Tip: Blast through the Blues

Sponsor Spotlight -- SportExcel

What does it mean to be in the Zone? We've all watched movies about an athlete achieving a zen state of mind and a laser-like focus on the task at hand. Such movies always end with a triumph -- a gold medal, a team championship, the final goal. But is this kind of experience rooted in reality? Does the Zone actually exist?

Yes it does.

And according to Bob Palmer from SportExcel, virtually everyone has the potential to be a peak performer. We all have an amazing ability to create success and own the Zone. To "just do it" doesn't always work. Sometimes you need a simple powerful process like Peak Performance Zone. For many athletes, it has become their "secret weapon."

Bob's own personal journey with achieving the Zone is like something out of one of those inspirational movies...

As a 32-year old martial artist, he was passionate about the speed, power and athleticism, as well as the emotional intensity in karate. He was fascinated by the elusiveness of the Zone. In his words, "How could I be so committed and work so very hard, yet be denied something so basic?"

With the right mentors and obsessive perseverance, he found the Zone and developed a system to teach others how to achieve it.

More than 10 years later, Bob continues to work with coaches, athletes, business entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants and needs new skills "yesterday."

"There are no winners or losers in high performance--
only those who actively acquire the Zone
and those who leave it to chance or to others."
- Bob Palmer, B.Ed., B.E.S. SportExcel CEO
and High Performance Trainer

So what exactly IS the Zone?

Being in the Zone brings a clear mental edge to your game. You will perceive situations in a way that is different from your usual perceptions. You will see advantages where others see problems. Where others experience difficult and pressure-packed circumstances, you experience the exhilaration of the Zone.

Virtually all athletes have moments when performance is easy and empowering. Peak Performance Zone makes these moments consistent across the board. Whereas physical size, strength, and specific sport-related physiology may be limitations to success in sport, this is not true of the Zone. The Zone can be learned just like any other skill. There is no genetic component to it.

Okay, I am interested...but what do I have to DO?

Perhaps it is a good idea to point out what SportExcel does NOT do. They do NOT provide you with volumes of source material, reams of suggestions and pithy quotes. They do NOT perform an in depth analysis and assessment about your weaknesses and emotions. They bypass all these things and get right to the Zone, which after all, is what we are interested in!

Sport Excel starts straight away, giving you specific strategies you can implement immediately.

Professional triathlete (and one of MRT's head coaches) Sara Gross, underwent a 6 week transformation (The Ignition Series) with SportExcel that she blogged extensively about at http://saragross.blogspot.ca/.

Her experience illustrates the power of effective mental strategies:

"I have always been a believer in the power of the mind and my previous attempts to change how I think about something could be called "the-little-engine-that-could-method," I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Or likewise, I love hills, I love hills, I love hills, etc...And this method does work as long as you can control your mind enough to keep the positive thought train running and the negative one in the station."

"What I learned from Bob is that there are easy methods that we can use to change our minds on the unconscious level that will actually stick! This is the revolutionary aspect of Bob's program. It helps you change your mind, and your physiology by using the Zone experience as the central focus of your everyday activities."

SportExcel is based out of Ontario, but for those athletes at the opposite end of the country (or anywhere else in the world for that matter), sessions are also offered via telephone and Skype.

Visit SportExcel at http://www.sportexcel.ca/ or contact Bob at bpalmer@sportexcel.ca

**Remember MRT athletes receive a 10% discount!***