why not try a new way of triathlon 2011

Maybe 2011 is the year to try something new and with triathlon. why not brush off the dust on your mountian bike (if you have one) and try a fun new way of triahtlon. OFF ROAD TRIATHLON. Its a great way to take a break from the road and have some fun in the dirt. I raced and won the off road triahtlon in milton last year. www.elementracing.ca are the great people that are putting a great race on. 2010 was the first for the race in milton and this was by far the best first time race i have ever been to. Things went great right from registartion to the awards. The weather was pretty epic for this very epic race it was very foggy and alittle rainy. www.elementracing.ca are back again in 2011 with even more races and races for everyone and every skill level. the 2011 races are as followed.

June 12th
Location: Albion Hills Ontario
Races Offered:
1. Off-Road Duathlon (3km Run, 18km Ride, 6km Run)
2. 6km and 9km Trail Run

July 16th
Location: Burlington Beach, Burlington Ontario
Races Offered:
1. 6 km (shoes optional) beach run
2. 3-round Knock-out Beach Run (3km top 75% go through to round 2. 3 km, top 50% go through to round 3. 6km final race for placing
3. Cross-fit Challenge (tentative)

August 28th
Location: Kelso Quarry, Milton Ontario
Races Offered:
1. Off-Road Triathlon (1km swim, 18.5km Ride, 8.5km Run),
2. Mini or Sprint Off-Road Tri (500m Swim, 7.5km Ride, 4km Run)
3. Duathlon (3.5km Run, 18.5km Ride, 8.5km Run)
4. 8.5km Trail Run


hope to see you out at some very fun off road races!!

Karsten Madsen

Q and A

1. Last beverage ~ water

2. Last phone call~ Myles

3. Last kiss~ Meaghan

4. Last song you listened to~ damn hate to say it Kesha we r who we r

5. Last time you cried~ July

HAVE YOU EVER:

6. Dated someone twice ~yes

7. Been cheated on? ~yes

8. Kissed someone & regretted it ? ~yes

9. Lost someone special? yes hate it

10. Been depressed? ~ yes

11. Been high? –> nope not my style

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:

12.Red

13.Blue

14.white (i know its not really a color)

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Have you made new friends this year ~ yes many its odd

16. Fallen out of lovee ~ never been in love

17. Laughed until you cried ~ umm think so

18. Met someone who changed you ~ yes

19. Found out who your true friends were ~ yes

20. Found out someone was talking about you ~ who has not really

21. Kissed anyone on your top friends list ~ wtf is a top friend list (no)??

TRUTH:

23. How many kids do you want to have ~ 1-2

24. Do you have any pets ~ kinda have a cat

25. Do you want to change your name ~ nopr

26. What did you do for your last birthday ~ try to hide it

27. What time did you wake up today ~ 7:20

28. What were you doing at midnight last night ~ sleeping

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for ~ christmas to be done!

30. Last time you saw your father ~ like 20 mins ago

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life ~ nothing love my life

32. What are you listening to right now ~ lil wayne

33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom ~ yah hated the guy

34. What’s getting on your nerves right now? ~ nothing

36. Whats your real name ~ Karsten Kenneth James Madsen

37. Relationship Status ~ I am in one

38. Zodiac sign ~ what ever novemebe is

39. Male or female ~ male

40. Elementary School ~ st anne

41. Middle School ~ didnt have one

43. Hair color ~ brown

44. Long or short ~ short

45. Height ~ 6'3

46. Do you have a crush on someone ~ yupp

47. What do you like about yourself ~ my fitness

48. Piercings ~ had them in my ears did it myself

49. Tattoos ~ nope

50. Righty or lefty ~ depents what i am doing

FIRSTS :

51. First surgery ~ never

52. First piercing ~ 2009

53. First tattoo ~ never

54. First best friend ~ mike

55. First Sport ~ triathlon

56. First pet ~ a fish

57. First vacation ~ ski trip when i was very young

58. First concert ~ never really been to one

59. First crush ~ cinderella

60. First alcohol drink ~ beer

RIGHT NOW:

61. Eating ~ no

62. Drinking ~ no

63. I’m about to ~ sleep

64. Listening to ~ some song call tonight

65. Waiting for ~ someone to come home

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OTHER SEX?

69. Lips or eyes~ eyes

70. Hugs or kisses ~ kisses

71. Shorter or taller ~ in the middel

72. Older or Younger ~ dont care

73. Romantic or spontaneous ~ i thought they went hand in hand

74. Nice stomach or nice arms ~ dumb thing to ask

75. Tattoos or piercings ~ piercings

76. Sensitive or loud ~ sesitive

77. Hook-up or relationship ~ relationship

78. Trouble maker or hesitant ~ bit of both

HAVE YOU EVER :

79. Kissed a stranger ~ yes

80. Drank hard liquor ~ yes

81. Lost glasses/contacts ~ yes! thank god oakley sponsors me

82. cried infront on someone ~yes

83. Broken someone’s heart ~yah think so

84. Had your own heart broken ~ yupp sure have

85. Been arrested ~ never

86. Turned someone down ~ yupp many times

87. Cried when someone died ~ nope

88. Liked a friend that is a girl ~ ??

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

89. Yourself ~ most days

90. Miracles ~ no only your own hard work will things happen

91. Love at first sight ~ maybe

92. Heaven ~ no

93. Santa Clause ~ i wish

94. Kissing on the first date ~ maybe

95. Angels ~ lame, no

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

96. Is there one person you want to be with right now ~ yes

97. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time ~ no

98. Do you believe its possible to remain faithful forever ~ sure do

99. What’s the one thing you cannot live without ~ sports

100. Posting this as 100 Truths ~sure

Are you online a lot? not really

Do You Have a Car? no


Do you have a cell phone? yes blackberry



Do you like gay/bi people? i dont dis like them

Can you speak another language? no


o you do well in school? id like to think i do


Do you collect anything? not really i have a tone of running shoes


Have an obsession? trianing for the hope of being a world championm


Do you hate yourself? sometime not very much tho


Ever smile for no reason? yupp


Talk to yourself? yupp dont answer tho


Do you have any regrets? some



Do you support gay marriage? yah if that what makes them happy why not


Sex before marriage? dose anyone wait now a days


Do you trust people easily? nope


Forgive easily? yes


Do you have a secret no one knows? no


Do you get along with your parents? sure do love them


What about other people? for the most part


How do you vent your anger? yupp punch stuff dosnt happen often


Do you like George Bush? dont really care enough


Goal Before you die? have a nice family


Biggest Fear? burning alive


Biggest Weakness? push ups


Do you play an instrument?


What do you want to be when you grow up? cop or fire fighter

better and better

I am pretty amazed with how fast my recovery is coming along. For the first time in along time i was pumped to go into work and get on with my life. I am feeling so good that i plan on slowing getting back into real trianing on sunday! I have started to look into the races i am thinking on doing. it will be looking kinda like this.... lots of ITU style races one or two non draft longer distance triathlons and a far amount of Xterra triathlons. still looking into dates and other stuff. I just find i need to pick all the races i want to do then its easier to keep up your motivation and keep to the game plane if you also have a game plan for the summer of racing.

Feeling much better

Well I have some good news!! My fever is gone!!! thank god it was starting to kill me. Now i just need my energy to come back. The walks are not doing it for me. I want to get right back into training but that wont happen. I need to pay more dues to this virus. I have done the hard part 2 weeks of fever and throwing up now I need to wait another 2-6 weeks before i have my full energy. The big positive in this whole thing is i have a tone of motivation for some good smart training. Its hard to sit around and do nothing. I am a very busy guy used to working 40 hours a week and training full time having 2 weeks off really throws you off...good news is i got all my Christmas shopping done, yes it was all online but i cant stand a mall and even worst when Christmas is around the bend. I dont know how I am going to do another Christmas season in retail even worst when I am not making commission!! I am sure I will get threw it just fine.

Good time to get it...

Just as training was getting well underway and things starting to come along I have been side lined by what I thought at first was a really bad flu. The past week was one of the sickest i have ever been. I would one min be super hot sweating like crazy then 30mins later be so cold shivering. I also had a little bit of pain in my left side. So on Sunday morning Meaghan and I went to the urgent care clinic. Sucks spending time in a place like that but it was clear i didn't have a cold or a flu it was something else. When the doctor saw me he was petty quick and to the point saying he thought I had mono. As soon as he said it I thought of the Victor Davis movie when he got mono. his was alot worst then what i have considering I feel my energy staring to come back after only 2 weeks. The way i am staying active well i am this sick is i am going for walks every day weather they are 20min or hour its good to get fresh air and let the blood flow to my legs. They kinda feel like runs for me right now have to have a nap after them.

I have taken 2 weeks off from work now and I plan to get back to work on Friday. Any hockey I was going to play is over now with the risk of ripping my spleen, well I have to wait 4-6 weeks but at that point i wont have time for hockey anymore will be to focused on my triathlon training. I plan on slowly adding workouts as my energy comes back so its kinda hard to say when i will be 100 percent back my guess would be january but my big goal is to get back into the pool asap.

happy halloween!!!

Busy week again for me. Worked liked a mad man still getting done my workouts and having a pretty good social life. I am almost finding a good balance so kinda nice. I was having a huge problem finding somewhere to swim. who knew it could be so damn hard to find good swimming so looks like I will be swimming solo from November to end of January. Nothing better then some lane swimming. Its not the best solution but its all that is available to me so i will have to make do. I have officially but the specialized transition on the indoor trainer! I hate indoor riding but hopefully I will find people that will ride with me.


Also on a side note,

I have lots of bikes for sale!!

I have a guru crono 57 frame size full dura ace vison tech aero bars(replaced frame, so only 1 year old) $2800

I have 2 specialized expert road bikes full 2010 ultegra one is a 58 the other a 54. $3000 *each*

I will have some wetsuits and Oakley glasses for sale as well (just waiting to figure out 2011 stuff)

please feel free to e-mail me with questions and or photos of the bikes karstenmadsen@live.com

Long weekend for me!

I get Monday off work so I have lots Planned I am going to go for a long bike ride rain or shine! then I am going to go for a nice long run. Then I am going to play some puck with the guys. Got to love the long weekend.

Halloween is just around the Conner and for the first time I have a costume planned. Rather then putting one together 30mins before I am going to a party. This year I am going as a fighter pilot. I have a real jump suit so it should be fun. I have a pretty big week of work and training so it will be fun to cut lose for a whole weekend. I have yet to find something for sure but I am kicking alot of ideas around.

If anyone wants to ride with me tomorrow shoot me a e-mail karstenmadsen@live.com I think i am going to go around 11am I am in the Waterloo area

In this edition of my life....

Devils and many other teams that enjoyed success last year (regular season) are having bad start to there seasons. I watched the Devils Habs game last night and for the first time I say the Brodeur that can shut a game down and make the keys saves at the right time. Devils needed a solid win and I hope this was there tsn turning point.

Anyways just wanted to share something other then triathlon. As for what I have been doing. I have been starting to up the swim mileage week by week. I am keeping everything long base work. I have been trying to get every day i can of riding out doors. most years I never ride in the fall and threw the winter months I do very little. This year I will be getting on the trainer in the basement. Going to make my basement my new favorite room this year. My coach Barrie and I have a very well discussed game plan for this year. I am getting more and more jazzed about 2011 everyday. For the first time in my training I will be following a diet. I usually always eat healthy but was never fully focused on it. I found it was a issue last year so I want to correct the problem. My diet will not be crazy hard to follow I am just going to fall in love with different kinds of snacks for example hot air pop corn with nothing on vs the one with butter.

With all that being said now i will have to really test my self control. My parents buy really healthy food so that part will not be hard. Getting to bed at a better time will be. I am famous for getting sucked into stuff on the computer or phone so it will be simple 10 pm rolls around lights off blackberry off tv off and get sleeping. Sleep is a very important part of training and its something i need to take more serious.

I will be doing a 2 hour orienteering run with Sean Bechtel and Claudia Johnston On November 14th. Sounds like it will be pretty fun. I mean in off season I am trying to do as many different sports as i can. I am playing hockey about once or twice a week still to keep some good and different fitness up. I want to get back into my rock climbing. Rock climbing i think is a great cross trainer and its a blast with some good friends.

That's kinda whats up with me.

a few request for me to keep up better blogging so look out lots will be talked about

Derek Redmond is one of my new heros!!

When things didnt go well he sucked it up... hero in my books

Bike ride turns into CSI

Probably one of the weirdest bike rides of my life. I went out for a 2 hour ride today and saw the normal amount of dead animals but I wasn't expecting to see a dead body! I saw it by Woolwich, I was about to go over a covered bridge when i saw at the bottom of the other side something that looked my a body had to take another look but when a guy came running over to me asking if I had a cell I knew something was up. So called 911 and police and the whole nine yards where there in minuets. Not expecting to have my bike ride turn into a episode of CSI. As for the rest of my ride it was good. Riding a new bike is always fun to do. I start swimming with my old club tomorrow kinda pumped to stop lane swimming and get back in the water with people fast like me!

Also keep your eye open on Kiwami they are lunching some really cool stuff!!

A-fib has been put to rest

Life as of late. I am working 40 hours a week at Pro hockey life as a sales Lead. It is a great job. I am running 50-60km a week and I am just getting back to the pool. I Have started to get myself ready for a very different year of training. I will be doing a lot more warm weather training this year. I have had lots of time to reflect on why things didn't go well in 2010 and for the first time I will share what was really going on.

For the most part of 2010 I was training and racing in fear. Finding out I have a-fib really messed me up. I was so scared of going back into it that I lost most of my goals that I had set out and the suffer and will to train. I just didn't want to go back into it so bad I never wanted to talk about it and tried to sweep it under the rug. I know most people will read this and think its kinda soft but finding out that you have something that could stop what you love doing is hard. For the first time I can say that I feel confident in myself and my ability's. So people can still say that 2010 was a bust year for me, but I know now that it was a huge stepping stone in getting my confidence back in myself and knowing that I have a heart that can still push and take me to victory. I am going to put things in the past now and call it a learning experience. Just like when I was a goalie, if you let in a bad goal shake it off and move on. Just make sure you make the next save.

ps... next year is a come back year, 2010 got nothing on me

Karsten Madsen

Electronic Waste in Ghana

Whistler Xterra 2010

I can sum the race up with one word...WOW! I have never been to a better race. I got to Vancouver on Friday morning. Chis Jeffrey's and I drove to Whistler and got are rooms in the athlete village. (rooms were awesome, really nice beds and close to race site). After getting the rooms and bags unloaded from the car it was time to put together bikes. I was just about done my bike and I was hunting around my bike box for my pedal and I could not for the life of me find them. So I texted my dad and sure enough they are on my garage floor. So then I had to make a trip to the bike shop to see if they had a pair i could use, sure enough they did. The next day I did my pre race prep and had a hard time figuring out the course, I was still floored by how crazy the trails where. They were very technical and really pushed me to my limits in places.

Race day my alarm got me up at 5am. I had some food to eat and then did the last few things to get my bike ready for the race. I had a very calm feeling before the race. I never really felt nervous. Most time for itu style races I get very uneasy before the start of a race. I did my normal pre race prep then started doing my final bike and transition checks to make sure I had everything i needed for my race.

The swim was good swam on the feet of Conrad for the first loop then fell off the pace on the second loop. had a bit of a slow start to the bike but started to settle in and get going. I rode the bike as hard as i could. It was very technical and really pushed me to my limits there were a few features on the course that were out of my league but with my pretty big ego had to do them. I really grew as a mountain biker that day. learned alot about riding that technical trials. I came off the the bike feeling pretty good, alittle banged up from the bike.

When I reached down to put on my k-swiss running flats I started to cramp really bad in my ham sting. I don't think my body was ready for that much climbing and technical riding. I started out on the run and for my first 5km I was feeling great just passing person after person. Then the climb up the mountain hit and as soon as i started to climb up the mountain my back went and i could not get it to stop cramping. I was running up the hill like the hunch back. after getting to the top it was time for the down hill. On the down hill my hamstrings started to grab on me so i just tried to stride them out and they i was trying to take i as mush fuel my body could take. Then on the second lap I didn't have any cramping problems and got into a pace.

I finished with a smile on my face. for the first time i kinda felt like i accomplished something. It was the hardest course I have ever been on and it was a epic day looking back there were alot of places I could have packed it in and gave up but I kept grinding and finished. If anyone has pictures of the me finishing I would love to see it... I was number 2. As soon as I finished I grabbed my ham sting because they locked up really bad.

After the race i was so impressed with how the finish was laid out and the after race food was by far the best of any i have been to! they had rib hamburgers hot dogs every kind of salad you can think of. They also had so many prizes for the age groupers witch was nice to see. All I can say is you will see me there in 2011 just an unreal race!!!

Karsten Madsen

Great race in whistler

great time in whistler good race good people good fun! very big update coming (need to tie some lose ends first)

photo from REVOLVE PHOTOGRAPHY cant wait to see and post more pictures

Karsten Madsen

whistler xterra

Real quick update. The mountain biking is un real here for the first time I feel challenged. Very technical here!! I had a good warm up this morning. I am having a great in out here so far, I just love the xterra race style next year I will do a lot more of them!! Look for a race update tomorrow.

Sorry for the quick update but I am writing on
my blackberry

Far from over

I could have wrote a long story about why my season sucked but I am done feeling sorry for my self. I didn't have a great off season, I set out to swim 6-7 times aweek. but I got some colds and well went into a-fib... going into A-fib really messed with my head but I am over all this now to bad its Aug 22nd. I learned alot this year and the next paragraph sums up what i learned


I wish my race season would have went alittle better this year, but sometimes things don't add up. Its the ones that don't give up and keep fighting that will go far. 2010 will soon be the past and 2011 being the futrue. People will say your only as good as your last result... true. So I am going to end 2010 with a god damn win don't care how deep I need to go I will win in MILTON XTERRA!


2011 brings a fresh start

Karsten Madsen

Thanks to everyone who has supported me threw the best and worst of times!

Niagara tri

In the past looking forward!

I am going into Niagara as last years champion, Its the first time I have ever tried to defend a title... if there is one race I want to win this year its this one. The feeling i got crossing that finish line is something I have not felt this year. It was the first time I finished a race with no regrets. I swam hard and gave all i had up the massive climb then on the run hung on for the win. I felt really crappy on the run but I put it aside and just ran with the vision of me crossing the line first. I never for a second thought about finishing second. I need to find that mind set again and I am starting to find it.

This race i cant get out of my mind...

New races...

ready to rock in Aug and turn around a really bad race season that has been filled with DQ's, Flat tires, passing out and other stuff...


Niagara Triathlon- Aug 8th... try to get the win and be 2x champ

Windsor Race- Aug 15th... race of a life time

Xterra milton- Aug 22nd...win it

Guelph Lake 2 -Sept 4th... solid race

Half Rev Cedar Point triathlon- Sept 12th... crush swim bike

Things as of late

Things in my life are going good. I am training well. friends and family are good work is good. I spent a bit of last week in Caledon training with my team. I had alot of good workouts and saw that I am fitter then I thought. Can't wait for the next Jr elite race!

Its been great so far this summer I am back down to working one job and that's at pro hockey life. I am getting lots of time off to do my training and recovery. In my down time I love to play a little bit of NHL 10 and the be a pro mode. So you go on the game and pretty much make yourself and you go threw the ups and down in the NHL life.

This weekend I will be in Windsor with David and are friend Justin...David and I are racing in the Loaring triathlon. If you want to still sign up you can the dead line is July 15th The race will be fun and the party will be funner check it out at http://www.loaring.com/loaring/triathlon.htm


Karsten Madsen

Bike For Sale

asking $1700 o.b.o.

only used for 2 seasons of racing...alot of love left in this bike

e-mail me karstenmadsen@live.com

First jr elite race

Well I sucked in my first draft race of the year. I had a slow start to the swim and had a hard time bringing them back. Next time crush the first 100m and get going! I came out of the water with 7 or so guys and as I came into transition I saw Taylor Reid leaving so I just hammered to bridge up to him. Then Taylor and I started to catch people only problem everyone we passed couldn't ride with us. They would hang for a bit maybe take one pull at most. Taylor and I pretty much just rode the whole bike by are self's. Got onto the run and ran pretty good. its hard to run hard when you are racing for like 19th place. Pretty much the same story as Ian Donald...Next race need to crush the swim and I will be much better off.

One good thing came out of this race...On the run I kept getting faster and faster, I cant wait till I can do Olympic. I feel that I have a hard time getting going in the water and run but the longer it is the faster I get. I really really wish I could do an Olympic draft race. To bad there is a rule saying JR's cant race Olympic :s makes a big jump for some people...

Any who I will be in the next trisport race racing the sprint. I am training hard right up till race day so I will be racing with heavy legs should be fun...another short little race.

Also wanted to Say thanks to my Mom and Dad for the support the have given me... I think I am truly lucky to have parents that care as much as they do. I was pretty bummed out about the race and they made me feel better and asked me what do I need to succeed next time. Sometimes its great to have parents that know what your going threw. In the mid to late 90's nobody could beat my dads bike times... and my mom was probably one of the best duathletes Ontario has had. Both my parents have done Ironman Canada so they know what its like to train hard and put up big hours.

Thanks
Karsten Madsen

David and I are training in are New Sport!!

we are on a 5 year plan!!

awesome fun before a race...

Good swimming

15x100yards on 1:30 holding 1:05-1:06 not too bad only really started to feel it on the last 2. Today i did my bike workout and forgot to look at the radar map and I paid dearly! It was kinda fun to be out in the rain busting my butt. I am starting to feel strong and fast perfect timing to!

Quick Guelph lake update and stuff

*you can see me with out a cap just getting out of the water

Some good and some bad came out of Guelph. In the sprint race had a good swim and bike but had a little over heating problem on the run...I will figure it out before my big race this weekend. i will admit that I have problem racing threw the heat so my goal is to get better heat trained... fingers crossed mother nature can give me some heat!! I also did the Olympic swim today and had a pretty good swim even though David or somebody punched me in the eye so my one goggle popped off and i got a nice black eye... but you can see in the picture how close I was to them even with missing the pack with the goggle problem. I then took the other lap really easy.

I have some little work i need to do...got to work on some bike to run but i will figure it out. I leave for Quebec on Thursday, driving down with Taylor and Yorke anyways that's all i got.

maybe an update around Wednesday

still 10 years old...

Both David and I had a day off on Wednesday so we decided to have a pool party. He came over at around 1pm and we got right into the pool and started playing a jumping game :s i sucked at it so he thought of another fun thing. We got a kayak and put it in the pool. I tipped it trying to get into it. After all the fun it was time to get down to business. David wanted to change is tt bike to a road bike so we worked on that for a bit.

As for training I needed a bit of a rest I have been going pretty hard the last little bit. One thing for sure I am thin and ready to rock in the first jr elite race of the year...

The low down!

David recking a nice News Years family walk by tackling me.

So for anyone wondering I didn't race Milton I was going to i had the car all packed with all my gear and i felt ready to roll. I woke up with my allergies really acting up so I put in eye drops I put on a breath right strip but i still just didn't feel myself (and everyone asked me if i broke my noise). I made the call that I would just cheer on my team mates.

I plan to race in Guelph lake and will be ready to rock there... I have a big brick workout with all the c3 guys it will be good to test my fitness against them. I am getting myself super fit for the first Jr elite race!

looking for new tri gear? want to save money?

So with the Triathlon season just underway its not to late to get a new race suit. After using Kiwami race suit for a open water swim and the brick Duathlon I am safe to say its the best suit I have ever tried on! I have tried on pretty much every suit they sell and right from the itu style suits to the Iron man suits they are by far the best compared to others! The materials and the quality of the suit is just way ahead of any other suit on the market! I mean there are not to many suits that you put on and you know right away that this is the suit for you. Now you can get 5% off anything on the site. They do custom itu printing too!

This is how to order follow the link...

http://www.kiwami.ca/

find what you like

add it to your cart

then put in karsten5 in the promo code and get your 5% off! I am telling you this stuff rocks and is worth every penny!!

also take a look at www.eurotrishop.com if you are looking for some new k-swiss running shoes they have you covered and also sabel goggles they are the best goggles and they carry the most efficient brands in compression too
CEP and SLS3.

you can buy e-mail kiwamicanada@live.com and put in the e-mail what you would like and add karsten5 and find out your discount on the product!

Karsten Madsen

Last few weeks

the face of hard work!

I have been very very busy the last few weeks had a race on the Holiday Monday. Got DQ because my bike shoe came off at the dismount line and rather then pick it up and bring it into transition I just threw it to the side dumb i know i should have just picked it up. I also was at the c3 golf day helping out. Did some open water swims, loving how warm the water is at this time of year, I am already swimming with no cap! Then last weekend I went up to Caledon after work and did some training with the boys in the morning then in the afternoon we were setting up the race site for the kids triathlon! Had a nice little BBQ at Krystal's house (Sean's girlfriend)talk about some Costco meats...Then on the Sunday May 30th was the kids races so we were there really early 6:30am and then worked till 7:30 long day in the sun. It was all worth it just seeing how much fun the kids had.

As for right now in my life I have a long bike ride today and then I have work and a swim. I am still thinking about Milton I kinda thought i would have had my mind made up by now but i don't.

Nike and Lance Armstrong Unite to Inspire and Mobilize the W

TAKE IT AS YOU SEE IT...

almost ready

With my first race of the year on Monday I am really stating to hit my top form. I have been biking fast and running really good. I am really pumped to test my fitness. I am enjoying some nice and hot weather! feels good to be hot well biking!! There is alot of things going on next week, on Wednesday the 26th is the C3 golf day really pumped to have a fun day helping out there.

There is the kids of steal race in Caledon. I really encourage any kids thinking of triathlon to come out and give it a shot. It is a pool swim so don't worry about having to swim in a lake. Myself and the rest of the C3 High performance team will be there talking and answering any questions you may have. For information about the kids of steal and adult race go to http://www.c3online.ca/index.shtml


Karsten Madsen

Awesome swim yesterday!

1500m warm up mixed diffrrent things in there.
then....
15x100m on 1:30

1:09
1:13
1:14
1:13
1:13
1:14
1:14
1:13
1:12
1:13
1:14
1:14
1:13
1:13
1:12

best I have ever been swimming... guess swimming with this club is working for me!

I have also been super busy at my 2 jobs. I am working 20 hours aweek at Pro hockey Life and Then working 18 at the police plus getting in as much trianing as I can!

So Smooth

So Smooth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl23O5N9FFI

keeping busy

So with the playoffs well under way and training really starting to pick up I have found myself pretty busy. I am really starting to hit my stride, getting in some good fitness. how ever for the last week i have been getting headaches and they have been getting worse. I think I have a sinus infection so i am going to wait the weekend and if i don't feel it getting better then i will see the doctor. I am not to worried about it I am hoping it will get better on its own.

anyways not much else going on just pumped to watch some hockey tonight and to start feeling better

ohh yah pretty pumped that dream crusher and dragon are home! they were lost in the mountians but they are found now!

Karsten Madsen

Terry Tate Office Linebacker

Came accros a really funny video on Andrew Russells blog and I needed to put it on mine!!

need some motivation!

I am really trying to find some motivation. My shoulder is keeping me out of the pool. Just as things were going good I crashed and have hurt myself alittle more then I first thought. I am not going to be stupid with this I am going to rest it till its ready because rest is a very important part of training. Training smart = winning?

Nothing like some rap music and the great LeBron to keep your head in the game!

skiing in 28?

So on Saturday (day after my crash) my family and I decided to go skiing to blue mountain. They had 4 run open and the weather man said 28 degrees for that day. I was really pumped to be able to go skiing in shorts! The snow was great considering how hot it really was out side. At around 12 o clock I took my shirt off and was skiing in just shorts. That just doesn't happen alot!

Great day!

Karsten Madsen

My Race Season

Victoria's Duathlon- May 24th

Milton Triathlon (Maybe) June 6th

Guelph Lake sprint- June 19th

Coteau-du-Lac, QC- June 26th

Peterborough half (swim to bike only) July 4th

Loaring Triathlon- July 17th

Eastern Champs Magog, QC- July 25th

Provincials Champs, Ottawa- July 31st

Niagara Triathlon- Aug 8th

Canadian Triathlon Champs- Aug, 21-22

Guelph Lake 2 (Maybe) Sept 4th

Half Rev Cedar Point triathlon- Sept 12th

First bad crash in 3 years

I entered into the good Friday road race today. I wanted to test my bike fitness. The race went off great I was siting in perfect position I was sitting 11Th in a pack of 200 so I was well in the front. Everyone was riding well until... about 15ish km into the race the person 2 people over from me hit the guy beside me and then the guy beside crashed into me and with 180ish riders behind it wasnt going to go well. I went flying over the Handel bars in to the left lane we were going about 42km when it happened. the first thing i did was look behind me and all i saw was a wall of rides trying to get out of the way of the crash. The first thing i did was get up and sprint to the side of the road but since guys were on the grass to get out of the way I got hit right in the face buy another rider. So in all 10 or so riders went down 3 of use that were riding side by side got the worst of it (the guy who caused the crash was fine and so was his bike...all I say LEARN TO RIDE IN A PACK)So well I was at the side of the road I made sure I was ok witch for the most part i was the road we fell on was very smooth so road rash really wasn't that bad. We did how ever hit the road really hard and I hit my head pretty good.

Now I went onto the road to get my bike and water bottles and move it to the side of the road. I then started to realize how hard we really hit the road because my shifter was snapped in half, my pedal was broken clean off, my bar tape was really riped up and the most pain full my zipp 404 is really smashed up. The other 2 guys with me had pretty much the same damages lots of broken carbon wheels.

I have been pretty lucky over the years of staying out of crashes so I guess the cycling gods said it was my time. How ever I am a little pissed with the guy who caused the crash because we were on a flat and straight road and from what i hear from the other guy we just panic and smashed into him. Also Ontario cycling should have known that 200 people in cycling pack is not going to work they had sr4 men and master 3 man go together when there should have been 2 different races! So question to Ontario cycling you going to help pay for all the stuff that is broken? In total there was 3 big crashes and some people that crashed them self's out. One guy had to go to hospital because he was knocked out cold. I understand crashes happen but most people in the race are not tour de France riders and they are not used to having 200 people in a pack. i think if they just split the races I don't think we would have had that many crashes.

fitness!!!

As the race season gets closer its time to start doing the work. i had a great time in Arizona build up alot of fitness. I had one little problem when i was down in Arizona on the Tuesday I got down I pulled an intercostal muscle on the right rib cage. It really bugged me on the Wednesday but I just took some Advil and trucked on. Its all back to normal again. Thanks to Dave(dragon), Sean(falcon) and Nat(dream crusher)for a great time in arizona pumped for them to get back and training with them agian!

This week has really been a stand out for me.

swimming- I did a 14x100m on 1:25m when I first saw that was are main set I didn't really know what to think but I started them easy swimming the first 5 of them in 1:17ish then the next 5 I was down around 1:15 then the last 4 was when I started to feel it but still swimming fast around 1:16 to 1:17. I think my stroke is really coming along because that set did not hurt as much as it used to.

running- 30 min warm up then 5x1km on 5:00min with 10 cool down and some core. I really didn't know how this one would go. It was only my second speed workout of 2010.

1.2:54
2.2:56
3.2:59
4.3:03
5.2:56

if you are wondering what happened on the 4th one in the last 400m I felt kind sick but turned it around. I was really pumped about my fitness I thought I would be around 3:10-3:05 for them. This is the fastest I have ever ran for this kind of workout. Last year when I thought I has at my best I did 5x1km on 6:00min so extra min of rest and i would only running just under 3:00. Not a bad way to start spring!!

I am really starting to get pumped about the race season I am putting together my race season today. Also one of my suits is ready! Once again big thanks to Kiwami! really pumped to start racing in there suit this year!

GO Canada GO

The Olympics are soon over and I must say they went fast! For two weeks my tv was on the same channel. I was very proud the way Canada competed in the games and I am filled with pride. Congrats to all the athletes. Now as many people know I love hockey very much and love to talk about it. I just have a few points, first one is I am not so sure starting Loungo will be a good idea we hasn't really been tested much threw out the tournament (other then the last 3 minutes in the Slovakia game) I would rather see Brodeur in the net. He is the guy who won the gold in 2002 and he also played a great game against the Swiss. I know alot of people looked at he USA game and shake there heads and yes he was off his game but after being a devil fan and Brodeur fan for the last 13 years I can tell you one thing Brodeur doesn't screw up twice. As for the rest of the team they are playing great just need to see Crosby step up tonight!

GO Canada GO

Karsten Madsen

Febuary is almost done?

So with Feb almost being over I soon get ready to pack my bags and head down south. Training post A-fib as been the same I haven't held anything back I have been swimming with a pretty high intensity and running big miles. Even with the set backs I have had this year I am going into 2010 best prepared then any other year. I have some pretty big goals in my mind and I am well on my way to them.

Arizona is going to be a big stepping stone in terms of getting my warm weather base training under way. I have started to bike indoors with some consistency. I just tried out my new Specialized Tarmac and it is awesome. I feel fast and Strong on it, thanks to GEARS for the bike and the bike fit! I want to go into Arizona injury free and with high fitness. I will be working on what races I want to do in the 2010 season so hope to have a pretty good idea by Friday.

Karsten Madsen

Wolf pack

I had a little speech before starting one of the funnest days EVER!!!! Here is how it went.....
I tend to think of myself as a one man wolf pack. But when I met Andrew and Dave earlier last year, I knew they were one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by 2. So there were 3 of us in the wolf pack. I was alone first in the pack and then Dave joined in later. And 6 months ago, when Dave introduced me to you Andrew I thought, wait a second, could it be. And now I know for sure that I just added two guys to my wolf pack. 3 of us (Dragon, Night Hawk and Wolf) flying around Toronto. So tonight, I make a toast.

Now here is the video of our fun day on February 6, 2010

feels good to be back

After my little deal with a-fib I have got back into training. Yesterday I did a nice and long easy run, today I am going to swim with my swim team for the first time since last Tuesday. I have been doing light swim workouts on my own or with David. I am right now looking into health insurance for when i go down to Arizona March 10th- 23rd this year. That's all I have been doing.

Karsten Madsen

In and out of A-fib

I don't want to spend to much time talking about it but on Wednesday I went into A-fib for anyone who doesn't know what a-fib is its short for Atrial Fibrillation. I went to the hospital later that day to make sure I was in a-fib. After confirming I was in A-fib the doctor thought I should stay the night and see if I come out on my own witch I didn't so later the next day they tried drugs. They also didn't work and my heart heart started to rise I would be laying in bed at a heart rate of 90-109 and I would go to sit up and it would jump all the way up to 130-175. I saw another Doctor who was great by the way and he decide that I was going to be Cardioverted. So at 2:00pm on Thursday good old Ontario hydro put me back in to sinus rhythm. right before I was going to get cardioverted I was pretty nervous, happy, scared so many things ran threw my mind. I have talked to many people about how it would effect my training and Doctor Len Gushe says to keep my training up so that's what I will do. Its just something I am going to live with and have to watch closely. I still plan on doing all the races and training camps that I had planned.

High Performance Turnpike

David Sharratt, Tyler Lord and myself did a huge workout yesterday, we biked for about 1:40 and then did a light 30min run. We have videos of are workouts but you will have to go on Tyler Lord's blog because I have no idea how to put a YouTube video on my blog.(anyone know? tell me! haha) Then after all the work we chilled in the hot tube. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

Karsten Madsen

Feeling good!

So far January is going really well. starting to find my running legs and feeling strong in the water. Yesterday at swim practice the main set was short but fast! It was 8x100m on 1:20, the fastest pace time of 2010. The first 4 I felt good but the last 4 I started to fall off pace so it kinda felt like a 400m all out. Then at today's practice one of the main sets what 3X500m paddles on 8:00 decent 1-3. I am starting to feel the water and get in the grove of 6-7 swims aweek.

Running has been going good as well. Just doing longer miles right now. I am trying to get out 5x a week and run anywhere from 90mins to 30mins. I want to have a big base under me before I go to Arizona this year.