Back after long time away from the blog

2014 is coming fast and I am making the most of training. This year I am addressing a issue that I have and that is swimming and weight. I have been working with good friend Dave Sharratt in the water out of Guelph I have been swimming 6-7 swims a week for the last 2 months. I am starting to get back to feeling the way I used to in the water if not better. looking back at old workouts I used to do I am around 5 seconds faster a 100 now. That is pool swimming tho I need to find a way to make some bigger strides in the open water. Next issue I wanted to work on is weight racing at 185 is just not acceptable for my body type. I will plan to race around 167 for race weight and 172ish for normal weight as of right now I sit around 177. My thought is with around 10lbs lost should help keep away injury. My want to train is good and am finding joy in what I am doing. 2013 was a good break out year for me in Xterra but like any athlete on to the next year with bigger goals. This is a year I need to step up and make a push to be one of the top guys day in day out. A lot of movement has happened for me in in terms of sponsorship moving forward to 2014. I would like to Thank all my current and New Sponsors, with out this help non of what I do could be possible and I thank them so much!! 2014 Sponsorship Team Norco Bikes Aqua sphere- Great wetsuits 1mm in the arms love it! Goggles best I have used Alta- zero drop shoes but with cushion best shoes I have ever run in. Yurbuds- head phones that never fall out or hurt what more needs to be said? CEP- 30% increased blood flow best compression you can get...fact Champion System- They have the best race suit and give me the creativity to make my own design nothing better (lowest Minimums to do custom clothing you only need 10 total pieces) Clif Bar- Love all the products they make and use this everyday weather its a snack during before or after clif is lights out awesome. Honey Maxx- The best sports drink I have ever used period...Good taste and gives long lasting energy. Rudy project- I am very happy to have signed another 3 year deal with Rudy project! having the best protection is a very important part of racing Xterra Polar- Racing with a heart rate is very important to me as I race with heart defect. knowing what my body is doing means everything to me. Enve - carbon wheels and accessories

Post Richmond Xterra Moving into Mine over Matter

Coming out of Richmond I am feeling good. Aside from my hyperextended elbow (still hurting) I am feeling good. I am the fittest I have ever been but that does not mean much as I am 21 and every year I seem to be faster But this year the improvments are much larger then any other year. I’ve been doing some key workout and my 2013 number vs my 2011 are scary. I finally feel like I’m hitting my stride everything is coming together. I am very happy with my season so far. I am Turing into a everyday name in Xterra and starting to mix it up with the best in the world. My mind set is strong and my work ethic has never been better. Thoughts going into Mine over Matter July 7th. So far this year I have been 6th 7th and 8th at all the off road races so far and all the races had a very strong field. I am very confident in my abilities. However I want to win and winning is what drives me. I am very much looking forward to going after my 3rd win at Mine Over Matter I won in 2010 and 2011 then injury forced me to sit on the side lines and Sean Bechtel took the 2012 win on a new course. Now we will be going head to head. I look forward to this show down and should be a tight race.

Richmond Xterra

It was a crazy week leading into Richmond Xterra. Richmond had a tone of rain dropped the days leading into the race. The river overflowed and the trials turned very wet! Was not able to pre ride the first half of the course and only got to ride the last half once. Day before the race i had a crash and ended up hyper-extending my elbow. I was 95% sure I would not be racing but got ice on it as soon as i could and put some KT tape to help keep it together. On race day it still hurt alot and was still sure I could not finish the race. At this point the race turned into a duathlon. On the first run I kept things tempo didnt want to go into the red so i sat just in behind the lead group. On the bike the elbow hurt but I felt safe and in control on the bike so I kept pushing the bike Near the end of the bike a bunch of us got together. I came off the bike in 8th or 7th. During the run I made sure I ran my own race and started to feel good. I now feel like my run is coming back together. I am very happy with my 8th place finish it is my highest placing at a Major US Xterra race. Next will be Mine Over Matter in Milton july 7th I plan to use this race to build into some other races.

Breakthrough Endurance Race week

After a lot of travel I am home after a very busy week. The race I was at put on by Breakthrough Endurance http://www.beraceseries.com/ went awesome lots of people helped out to make it a success. The week leading into the race was going really well for me. My peroneal tendonitis was not hurting and I was feeling good. However leading into the race I had not a lot of run fitness due to the fact I had not really run for 7 weeks before the race. Friday Was the super sprint 200m swim 4.6 mile hard mtb 1.6 trial run at a all out effort. I swam as hard as I could and came out with the normal guys I would come out with and on the bike at the start moved my way into 4th. had a small dumb crash and before you know it I was sitting in 6th on the bike. I had Josiah Middaugh on my wheel for the rest of the ride. When we pulled into transition their was pretty much all of us together going onto the run I ran the best i could for the run fitness i had and came in 6th or 7th. The fun part of the race was their was not a lot separating us all so you could not let up once. Cool idea to do a off road super sprint i had so much fun with it and I think all the other guys had fun with it too. Saturday was the big day 1500m swim 28ish km on the mtb and 9-10km on the run. My swim I was very happy with came out 5th out of the water with a time of around 17:25 (it was short) I had a great transition and felt pretty good on the bike. After the first Lap I had moved my way up to Second Behind Dan Hugo. I then held that for another 2 laps till Craig then Josiah went by me. I got off the bike and was unsure what the body was going to do so I just made sure I picked a run speed that would not have me fall apart. I was happy with my run considering the injury I had over come, but I just could not attack on the run but held on for 7th place overall in the most Competive off road PRO race I have been apart of. I leave feeling very good about where I am going in this sport and being the youngest guy in the Race at 21 I have a ton of time to get better and develop my endurance and skills. I would Like to Thanks all my Sponsors and Supporters It would not be possible with out you!

Whistler Canada Training Camp

Turnpike Racing is excited to Announce Its first Training Camp in beautiful Whistler Canada Aug 16th- 23rd There will be 2 different camps offered, off road triathlon camp and road triathlon camp. All skill levels and family members welcome. Accommodation will be in the Athletes village. Stay in the same places all the Olympians from 2010 stayed. Once in a life time opportunity. Prizes will be given out all week From Aqua Sphere Rudy Project CEP Altra ESI grips Xtenex For more information, Please Contact Head Coach Karsten Madsen 519 998 6769 karstenmadsen@live.com Please pass this along to anyone you feel would enjoy this trip/camp

Looking forward to some big racing

This is the first year since 2009 that I have really started to feel excited to race. I have been putting together training again really well. I have been swimming a mix with university of Waterloo and a bit on my own. I need to up my number with the university I never get the same return from swimming on my own. I am still swimming most open water 1500 in about 20min and want to crack into the 19 range more time I can put on the weaker swimmers the better. This year I'm going to work on my open water swimming my pool times are not reflecting the people I come out of the water with. As for cycling last week I rode 279km and did 2 brick workouts one of them being 5km tempo/hard i wont give up that time (it surprised me how fast it was) The running for me has been rolling nice since my Labrum injury been getting a full mix of tempo speed work and distance my long run sits at 23km and will Max this year at 25ish km. Im so excited to race I was looking at some last year results from Xterra Southeast champs and if I can do the same time as last year I will be in 8th spot but I think its not unlikely to see my self in around 6th with some better fitness etc and better luck on the bike. I don't normally compare results year to year but when you start feeling fitter then last year its hard not to look. My line up on race day I will be riding a new bike this year Specialized s-works Epic From GEARS bike shop with Shimano xtr (after all the problems I had with sram xx it was easy for me to go back to what I have used for years) My bucket will be Rudy Project Windmax, light and great air flow and looks awesome! My glasses will be Rudy Project again all the glasses they make feel and feel awesome on your face. I will change it up race to race but I am a very big fan of the genetyk race suit will be Champion System pumped to use the new material they came out with feels awesome! running shoes will be taken care of by Altra full zero drop line up great shoes! CEP has my Back on compression for before during and after the race ! did some skiing in march in Vermont nice place think i will go back in the summer for training hear the mtbing is awesome!

Twitter and facebook killing the blog

After 2 months of no blogging time to update. Training in the months of Jan and Feb were really good! Consistent work did not miss workouts and was recovering well! March has been a very different story started off with one of the worst colds/flu I have had in a long time! Still feeling the affects of that today! Also banged my knee up pretty good so that put a delay on things. But today seems like I'm ready to get the ball rolling. the bummer part is the illness killed the plan of early season race in Vegas for West Champs. That is a race I really want to get back to! I am still pumped for a good long season and even tho motivation has been low at times in March I am still finding ways to get the work done! big thanks to my sponsors and friends and family that stick by. Now time for the best news of all (save best for last) After dating Meaghan for 2 and a half years I have asked her to marry me! She has been amazing and super supportive of everything and its for sure the best decision I have ever made!

Its been way to long to not have a post. Thing have started to get back on track for me. Things with Turnpike Racing has been moving at the speed out light. Been super busy getting clothing together for the team. Cant wait to see the final look of are Champion System Kits. My hip is better for now. The MRI showed that my hip joint has a small bone spur on it and that what was giving me the trouble. Doctor said to get back to training and if it come back then they might have to go in and shave it. I am running around 3-4 days a week and my long run is now at 15km no pain. I have been riding on the indoor trainer and outside on days warmer then -5. Trunpike Racing is in full swing and is moving into 2013 with a stacked roster of talent across the board from ITU IM 70.3 Xterra 5150. Turnpike Racing is still looking for new athletes of all ability. Please e-mail karstenmadsen@live.com Ohh did I mention I have sponsorship packages for every Program of training.