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Ironman Canada 2011 - Race Recap

2011-09-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

2011 Ironman Canada Race Recap

*disclaimer* this is a long read, grab a coffee first!*
**official photos updated**

Morning of..

I awoke at 345am, as with all morning workouts I jumped in the shower for a long warm up and loosening of my back. I just tried to look at today as an opportunity and roll with it. I had to focus on controlling my thoughts and worries about the day, so many unknowns that are sure to come. It’s how you deal with those that will define your day. I told myself the choice is mine if I want to complete the Ironman today I could. I recalled the hundreds of workouts leading up to this day that I’d done, told myself that the work is all done and today’s really just about stringing it all together. Tried to eat a 1000 calorie breakfast but probably ended a bit below that, had a jennies macaroon (315cal) first thing, a cup of coffee, bottle of water, sodium tablet, 2 pieces of toast with PB, and a banana. We probably got out of the motel by 5am and right away the drive was fairly blocked off so it took awhile to get to the starbucks/bodymarking area.

Support T's!

5am, as spry as I'll ever be

Ophee dropped me off and I entered, tossing my special needs bike and run bags into the right boxes then over to bodymarking. Everything was pretty smooth in here. I put my shuffle and headphones in and had thrown a good playlist together to listen to but really only listened to a few songs in all.

Over to my bike, poured my Perpetuem into the Aquacell front bottle, put a bottle of water in the downtube cage, and realized I had forgotten a bottle in the fridge. Only planned on carrying 1-2 bottles at any given time anyways since the course will have plenty (cue the haunted premonition music), so I didn’t give two thoughts about the forgotten bottle. Set up my Garmin 305, filled the bento boxes with my hammer gels and special US only white chocolate macadamia clif bar, and walked away towards the start.

Like cattle to the slaughter, into transition

Bike ready to go

The line at 545am for the portapotties was reasonable, that was one of my worries but they seemed to have plenty there. Over to the grassy area and saw some Nanaimo folks. It was good to see a familiar face in Joel (even though I only met him 2 days prior), he’s a super fast swimmer and seemed calm. The rest of the Nanaimo frontrunners crew were there including Stefan and Norm. As I put on my wetsuit I realized my hands were shaking, put my earbuds back in and turned it up to tune things out. Looked down at my drygoods bag and wondered how it got so full, right then it split wide open. Thankfully they had an extra and miraculously I remembered to transfer my #552 sticker from old to new bag or I’d have never found it again.

Walking out of the swim course chute and onto the beach is a very sobering moment and probably the one that I dreaded more than any other aspect of taking on the Ironman. I decided to take it in and look around, remember everything. I saw 3000 other swimmers waiting for the start. Saw the hills just being lit with sunrise as I looked out at the buoys and swim course. Saw the thousands of spectators lined 5 deep at the fences along the beach. I walked along the beach and cement right to the far left edge hoping to see a familiar face in the crowd. As I got into the water I chatted with a guy who was super calm and had been here before. Kept spitting in my suddenly fogged up goggles and nervously rubbing them..then the national anthem came. Go time!

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Swim 3800m, 1:33:18 (2:28/100m pace)
Overall 2394/2832 M30-34 196th/219th Male 1713th/1963

And off the horn went (no cannon anymore?). I swung my arms around and slowly waded in after the 2,832 athletes turned the nice glass-like surface of Okanagan Lake into whitewater. Knowing that if I got onto someones feet I’d be able to conserve some of my energy by tagging on, unfortunately the first few feet I followed seemed to blow up early and slow right down, or I noticed them veering off course too much. Surprisingly my swim felt good and I just told myself to make the first turn buoy and DON’T look at your watch at all costs. I kept my thoughts positive, thinking back to 11 months ago in the Metrotown pool with kids doing cannonballs on top of me, and my first lap when I got 25m to the end and had to clutch the poolside, get out, and walk back to the first end to get my inhaler and rest. I recalled the old men doing vertical pushups off the pool wall blocking me, and the 5am swims with a swim group way beyond my level. I remembered IMC’10 the day before signing up swimming out there with Josh when we went along OK Lake’s buoys and each one seemed 1000m away for me. Josh had emailed me after my first 4000m swim and said to remember how far I had to come and the confidence will stay. The one thing I noticed right from the beginning of the race swim was how I must’ve had some velcro facing inward from my wetsuit strap towards my neck and it was rubbing each time I turned. I did a few slow face down floats just to try to fix it but couldn’t and gave up. That pain will be the least of my pains today! Besides, floating face down will only panic the volunteers in kayaks.

At one point some person kept grabbing my ankle and pulling back repeatedly, fairly odd swim stroke I’d say, so a few frog kicks slowed that down, before they hopefully noticed a very warm patch of water envelope them behind me. I noticed I drifted right and ended up right on the orange buoys, so slowly made my way back left to avoid the gong show. Reaching turn buoy 1 (1600m) in 36:17 for a 2:16 pace, pretty fast for a human anchor like myself. A good friend who did IMC 09 told me his story of how he looked at his watch thinking he must be half hour in and saw it was 8 minutes only, that advice proved to be good seeing as how the first 36 minutes seemed to go by not bad (by avoiding my watch), bar for the punches and kicks that were to be expected. Around the buoys its just insanity, like cramming a salmon run into a right angle turn. People climbing over one another, some stopping to hold the buoy, some looking fully scared shitless.

Leg 2 is only about 400m long and it went by quick before turn buoy 2 was more of the same with Vancouver style traffic jams. The last leg was 1800m and I finished it 45 minutes or about a 2:32 pace, slowed a bit but couldn’t snag a good paced pair of feet for long stretches. I had done calcs before the race and knew I had plenty of time to make the cutoff so tried to just swim efficiently and smoothly. Random note is how much I had to pee...right at the start, once on ankle puller, and once half way back, damn nerves. Coming in towards the beach I started to hear the crowd and announcers, and approaching shore I did as Coach Bob and Carolyn had told me, swim as long as you can instead of standing up and running. It kept my heart down nice and low, relatively speaking. As I came up through the mats I made the rookie mistake of stopping my watch, so Im sure that’s one picture ruined! One exit pic wasnt a watch looking picture at least...

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T1 6:34

Overall T1 1734/2832 T1 Male 1187/1963 T1 M30-34 145th/219

I felt absolutely jacked to have the swim done with. See you next year wetsuit! After the wetsuit strippers had pulled it off I jogged up and threw my socks, shoes, helmet, gloves and race belt on. Got a good lathering of sunscreen on the way out too, where I noticed the sting of it in my new wetsuit burn on my neck. A black guy running with me was laughing because he was just caked with sunscreen and looked at me yelling “I went in black and came out white!”. I held back any MJ jokes at this point. Grabbed my bike and made my way up to the mount/dismount line.

Post T1 2363rd/2832 (passed 31 people through T1)

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Bike 180km 7:38:27 23.6km/hr pace

Overall 2447th/2832 Male 1761/1963 M30-34 204/219 (holy shit)

As I started the bike I saw Josh hanging over the fence, and then heard Ophee and my mom yell my name as I rounded the corner. My heart was pumped but I made an effort to calm it down on the ride out of town. Holding 33-35 heading out I felt allright, this was about the last time I felt cooled down for the rest of the day with the air evaporating off my jersey and shorts. The entire crew of Adam, Tash, Charlotte, Madeline, Owen, Katie, Mark, Crystal, Josh, Ryan, Darren, Jane, and Rowan all were there sporting the bright red shirts with my ugly mug on the front. I had to laugh seeing the kids with the shirts on too. Was great to see everyone there.

As the ride continues then turns up McLean Creek Road I chatted with a Lisa who asked about the hill and when it was. Throughout the day I found I was more and more of a tour guide to others who chatted a bit, as I knew the route fairly well and was astonished how many people had no idea when the climbs were coming or distances. Aid Station 1 approaching on my right, I was looking forward to some water finally along with some water to mix in my very concentrated 10 scoops of Hammer Perpetuem.

“No water”.

I was stunned but being only the first station I figured maybe they don't stock as much here since its early in the race. I remembered Graham Frasers pre race speech saying it’d be hot and to conserve water, which I hoped wasn't a precursor to poor planning of logistics. I rode past not wanting to put my stomach through the sugary test of PowerBar Perform just yet. Moments later I saw a few people with flats, then around a corner from the top of the road a lady was yelling for us all to move to the centre as there were tacks scattered everywhere. The pace slowed right down as everyone around me just took it easy trying to avoid any tacks on the road, which is more about luck than anything at this point. Unfortunate that the ‘tacker’ struck again, not realizing that Ironman Canada puts Penticton on the map and brings in millions of dollars every year. Hitting the main highway again the pace sped up and its mostly a descent with a bit of tailwind perhaps, I was careful to lay off the gas for this 40k stretch but still held 30km/hr with my heart rate firmly in zone 2.

Rolled past the Osoyoos Husky station which is the beginning of the Richter Pass climb. In training I climbed this 12k stretch in about 45 minutes, today it took me 51 minutes. I was probably too paranoid in keeping my heart rate from going too high this early in the race. As Jordan Rapp had said the race begins on the summit of Richter Pass and this is where you want to feel good, not bagged. I saw so many people huffing by and standing up, I hope they realized the prime Timex $1000 bonus was only for first up the mountain. I was on the last of my water and spraying a tiny bit on my head when a volunteer came running down the road ahead of the next aid station..

“No water!”

Its funny, the first thought I had was that these poor volunteers must feel horrible, its not their fault after all, yet THEY have to bear the bad news to the athletes and to take the brunt of the anger and comments. I asked for anything they had, even leftover bits in the hockey nets and took 3 bottles that were no more than half full. I was determined to dodge this mental curveball and stay hydrated, even if I wouldn’t get as much as I’d expected.

The Support Signs

From the summit of Richter the winds were in our face, so top speeds didn’t seem as high today. I noticed a ton of traffic though in both lanes forcing me to brake and slow down more than once when an impatient motorhome blocked me a few times. Some riders also seem to not get that you shouldn’t pass on the right, and saw a couple who were wearing ipod headphones which is also against the rules. The race marshalls seemed to be fairly lenient at the beginning of pack riding but I saw some serious pelotons go by, and noticed only one drafting penalty given the entire race right before Osoyoos. The next 33k to Becks Road is all about the Rollers. I seemed to have zero juice on the climbs up them so would get passed, but then I’d fly by on the descent, leapfrogging the same people over and over. Next water station yelled the same, “No water!”. I took some powerbar perform and another half used bottle, and kept taking my salt pills religiously every 30 minutes.

Out n Back

I had a hunch Ophee and my mom and Arlen would be up at the Cawston out and back and wanted to look strong but inside I was hurting. Turned right on Becks signalling the beginning of the out and back and sure enough on the corner I saw a familiar face for the first time since KM 9 of the race leaving the townsite. I was about right on pace with training on the out to the special needs bags, just pushing and praying for water. Got there and for the 4th station in a row, “No Water!” I managed to have lucky timing and a volunteer mustve just gone on their own and bought some water since they were fresh and cold out of the packaging. Tasted absolutely amazing to get fresh water going in my system. By this point I was absolutely baking hot and felt behind in my hydration for sure. I ducked in front of a parked cargo truck and took a leak and got some fluids in (and out) of me.

Heading back towards my wife and family I kept a good pace again feeling rejuvenated, I also was carrying my co2 and extra food to give to them since now I wouldn’t need it. I managed to eat some clif shot blocks and a few gels leading up to here and had plenty left over. Seeing them cheering again I pulled up to stop this time, dispensing my stuff and having a bit of water poured on my back. Also ditched my frozen water bottle that Id packed in special needs full of perpetuem that was now in my front bottle, figure I was taking in enough or more than enough calories so far. Riding off towards the Bear Fruit Stand they passed me again and I started the slow climb up towards Yellow Lake .

Signage Waiting for me on Yellow Lake

Here’s where things went a little sideways for me and I started to lose the plot. I seemed to have less and less energy, and if I pushed hard I’d see my HR spike too high, so I kept it low and kept trying to get fluids down. I figured maybe a bit of heat stroke since today’s the hottest day I’ve ridden in all year, and the longest time wise as it’s turning out. The climb from here to the very top took me a full 11 minutes longer today than in training. My feet started to cramp badly, same as in training but more severe. The heat was relentless, like opening an oven door and feeling that warm blast hit you square in the face over and over. On the final climb up the steeper pitch to Yellow Lake I was bone dry out of water again and saw my family on the side hunkered down in some shade and all I wanted was to be there cooling down. I saw so many riders at this point feeling the effects of the insane heat (35 degrees, though many told me it hit 37 on top of Richter). Some bikers had pulled into grassy shaded lawns and sprawled out, others were face down on the road, ambulances screamed by pretty well every 10-15 minutes, it began to look like a war zone that was no doubt due to the heat and the lack of available water, but also some riders probably pushed beyond their respective pace and were bonking. Seeing the carnage was a lesson to me to stay calm and just complete this race, nothing too risky and no big pushes. Last climb up there were at least ten people walking their bikes up the road, and I saw an old co worker from Japan who also was the first woman to complete Ironman Canada, Dyane Lynch. The supporters in this stretch along Yellow Lake blew my mind, from the 3 shirtless dudes singing the song “whos too strong, youre too strong” to the girls in all the outfits, it was awesome and so uplifting. Even though I looked like death I’m sure, these people and my support crew kept cheering me and urging me on.

Hitting Yellow Lake I pulled in and stopped at the aid station. As I slowed to a stop the kid looked at me and said ‘Are you allright?”. I must’ve looked rough, plus I put all my weight on my aerobar arm pad and it bent down so going aero would be awkward now. They were almost out of water too he said. A kid working there gave me his peach flavoured aquafina water, and a bottle of refilled water from the lake or someones hose((?). I took another PBP drink and got going, foot cramps just killing me. Further up the road I saw the boys, Josh, Darren, and Mark. Actually first I saw Darren, as he has jogged almost a km down the road to spot me. Their math was a little off or I was way slower than they expected because they waited there awhile. Apparently Darren was freaking out about me and kept running all the way down the hill and back trying to spot me. He ran along by me as I mumbled a bit about water and he kept me going. As I rode by all I heard from Josh as he yelled “take as many fluids in as you can!!”. It snapped me back to reality and I drank the peach drink (gross) and the other water which was surely from the lake as the taste was horrid. I got about half the bottle down but couldn’t stomach it any longer. This section was always my fastest in training, descending most of the final 30km, but today I rode this portion a full TWENTY minutes slower. Almost amazed even now.

In the end, I lost 87 places on the bike. So much for my strong sport of the three!

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T2 13:13
Overall 2487th/2832 Male 1720/1963 M30-34 199/219

I honestly thought I was in T2 for 6-7 minutes. How it became 13 is some sort of twilight zone mystery that I’ll never know. I got off the bike at the dismount line and limped over on my very cramped up feet, incredibly painful, felt like hell. Got my bag and slowly got into the change tent, bike shoes off felt good but saw my feet were cramped up tight so gave them a quick rub to get blood going. Changed my socks, put shoes on, put forerunner on, new sleeveless shirt, hat, bandaid on nipples, borrowed a guys ziplock o vaseline for the nether regions, and then went into the portapotty for a good long piss. Walked over to the sunscreen ladies who were busy so waited a moment, got lathered up good but my wetsuit burn screamed out at me again when I got sunscreen in it. Almost out of T2 when I saw WATER, oh it had been so long. I felt like Chevy Chase in 3 Amigos, just guzzling the water back. Even ate a gel I think, but water, so good. Hit the T2 mat go beep and started the run.

After T2 I’m in 2442nd place..closing in on top ten.

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Run 5:40:03
Overall 1827th/2832 Male 1302/1963 M30-34 160/219

As I started running and moving my legs they felt better and better. My first km was a 528, then a 558 (aid station walk through), then 529. 3k at a good clip and my heart was low, starting to feel rehydrated again after that 7 hours of drying out on the bike. The course loops you around main street then back to LakeShore Drive, it teases you with the finish and some of the pro’s finishing even before dispatching you back into the death zone heading south. Through town there’s amazing support, people cheering and yelling all along the way.

I kept looking for anyone in red shirts or anyone I knew, its funny the way your mind works. It almost barters with you asking you to push a little harder just til you see the friends and family. Unfortunately they were still stuck in traffic from coming down Yellow Lake seeing me there so didn’t have the chance to see them until 21k point at ½ way (Ok Falls). From the 8k point you leave town officially and climb a small hill, but its also where you are full on exposed to the sun and sporadic supporters. I started to hurt here, badly. I walked every aid station, and the hill. It was a good break for the legs but more importantly my mind. The water and every 2 stations the sugary gross tasting PowerBar Perform too.

I cant stress enough, it was like a battlefield. All day I’ve seen ambulances roaring past, people begging for water, seen bikers passed out in shade mumbling. Now on this stretch of 13km down Skaha is really where you are laid out to prove yourself. Here you can see the returning runners on their home stretch, many pulling over to the side of the road and throwing up. I started to question if I could finish this, a marathon is still a marathon, the distance has to be respected. It’s humbled me each of the 6 marathons I’ve completed and this one will be no different. I had to mentally fight with all I had to block the negative thoughts, to focus on the year build up I’ve put into this, to remember that I put in the work and I am *able* to do this, now just do it. I kept my hat pulled far over to the right like a gangster homey but it was the only way to keep the sun outta my face for once all day. Took sponges (very used sponges by this point in the day) and put them under my had, on shoulders, back, front. I took ice and put them down my shorts even. Anything to keep my core temperature down and kept taking in liquids and at least a gel per half hour. At the exact moment the sun went down I looked at my watch, 7:11pm, as it hid behind the mountains west of Penticton. It was like a switch (Sylvester Stallone blatant reference there), I could look up again, run taller, the heat was going away little by little. Getting closer to OK Falls half way point and the special needs run bag, I was getting excited. Came down the hill and saw the red shirts all over and was pumped. I grabbed my special needs bag and walked over the timing mat for my half way split time (2:39) then walked up to the crew with Ophee. Decided to sit down and change my socks, unconventional yes, but Im not here to win this thing. I could feel my blisters coming, and why not spend 3-4 minutes with everyone who’s been out here waiting forever for my slow ass.

It was a good visit, short, but very morale boosting. I got going and Coach Carolyn ran with me to the top of the hill, actually we walked it, since its the steepest hill on the course giving me some tips and motivation. From the top I started jogging again, then running, and passing so many people. Post race stats show I passed 257 people from Bike to Run (and I’m not a runner), but I’d say that on the first half I was passed by about 50 people in my hurting state at least, so on this final half marathon passing at least 300 people kept me moving. I was going to finish this thing. I just had to keep going, like Josh had implored into me leading into the Ironman, its just getting from A to B at the end of the day. I was hurting but the shuffle persisted, even as I got the glowstick handed to me at the 27k point and begrudgingly put it on my hat so I wouldnt have to see it. The entire route back I took chicken soup broth and coke at alternating aid stations. My body was not happy, and what I call a run was probably closer to a grandpa shuffle, but I was getting there. I noticed a disproportionate number of athletes walking, I’d say 95% at this point were walking. I know you can ‘walk’ a marathon and say you’re a marathoner, and maybe your body is shutting down right now so you are forced to walk as well here. But some of these folks were chatting up a storm and eating a bag of chips and just walking back knowing they’d make it there just before midnight still at the pace they were going at.

My competitive side tells me to respect the race and the distance, to push yourself to that limit and see how long you can hold it there. You trained all these months why hold back now and float home? It felt hard, but it’s supposed to be hard. It hurt, but it’s supposed hurt, it’s pushing your limits. As I approached the outskirts of town I saw Ophee cheering me on, a very good surprise! From here it’s just 7k to home, and I told myself just keep smiling, enjoy this, it’ll NEVER be like THIS again. I use that line often and it’s not meant to say that things are all downhill from here. It’s to reiterate to cherish the moment and enjoy what you have right here right now and appreciate the present.

The crowd support grows as you approach town, even seeing a couple of old ladies ringing cowbells on the street in their lawnchairs, I smiled and eeked out a thank you. I tried to thank every single person who was out still cheering, its a long day for support too. Coming down main street I was getting jacked, realizing that I was going to do this finally. The warm summer air felt so good, and tons of memories of the past year of build up came to me, all the early swims, long solo rides, long solo runs, missing weekends and much of summer. Missing friends weddings, missing family reunions, finally it would all be worth it. I thought of my wife Ophee and how many sacrifices she had made over the past year to support me, cook for me, get me out the door when I was bagged, and realized its officially a ‘solo’ sport but at the same time its a support group that keeps you going and inevitably shares in the day and the accomplishment with you.

I kept running, knowing the pain was only temporary, I forgot about watching my heart rate and pushed my heart up, pushed the pace. Get this done, finish strong. The final 2 km is unlike anything you’ll ever experience unless you’ve done this event. At this point I had no idea what my overall time was, that’s how little I cared, I only wanted to do the best I could. I heard the announcer Steve King say something about it entering the 15th hour now. FIFTEEN hours I’ve been out, trying to be the best at exercising (as Kenny Powers would say). Kept running at my pace, and nearing the finish turn you cut left under the PowerBar inflateable where I saw everyone again and was about ready to throw a Wayne Gretzky fist pump/knee lift I was so glad to be nearly done. Ran out west on LakeShore Drive to the turn around then the final 1k stretch to home. I consciously wanted to not be in someones finish line photo, and also not to have any jackass sprinting up at the finish chute behind me. All athletes around me at this point looked pretty content to walk or very slow jog in to the finish, so once I had a buffer of space in between the person way in front and person way in back, I settled into that spot and took it all in. Right before the finish I saw Ophee, Mom, Arlen, Adam, Mark, and Josh all cheering. Swung right and possibly threw a few F-Bombs in my excitement as I threw a few high fives and hugs out.

Back into the finish line chute with people lining the stands I made sure to high five pretty well everyone in the stands on my way into the finish before hitting the timing mat and nearly ripping the banner in two. I know it sounds cliche in the tri scene, but I had just become an Ironman.

The catcher was there right away and is required to stay with you through the entire process of getting your cap/shirt, medal, going to get bags/bike, medical tent, etc. The crew came over to the fence so I chatted for 3 minutes with them, in this time my heart dropped from 172 to about 110 and I started to feel pretty sick once the adrenaline wore off. The helper brought me into the medical tent to sit down and got me some chicken broth and a slice of pizza. I nibbled it but couldn’t stomach much. It looked like a warzone in there with people all hooked up to IV, the docs said there were an abnormal number of DNF’s and dehydrated individuals. I sat for about 15 minutes and a helper went to go get my 3 bags, while I had to go get my bike myself and walked back to Ophee, Mom, and Arlen. I loaded up on the sparse offering in the food tent (muffins, cookies, and pizza) but really didn’t eat much until the next day. We drove back to the motel and the shower may have been one of my best ever, I reeked. Amazing to be done the race, and even more importantly $2000 was raised to go towards ALS Canada’s research towards finding a cure.

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Thank you's

Doing an event like this takes a team unless you are die hard Type A tri guy personality.

I couldn't have even made one step without Ophee my wife. She pushed me and helped me so much the entire way, from researching nutrition for me and ordering my Hammer products .
There’s my Mom and Arlen for coming out from Alberta to Nanaimo then to Penticton to see this race, her post race note said “Im so proud of you but don’t ever do anything like this again”. No guarantees Mom.
My brother Kyle texting all day, as was Brian, and tons of good friends and family on Facebook or Twitter.
The crew who came up and spent a week of their holidays to help push me to the finish and even had tshirts made, Josh Darren Mark and Adam for consistent motivating emails along the road to IMC, and countless others.
BK!
Bob and Carolyn Gebbie for bringing me out to the TriStars Training Camp in July, that experience was invaluable.
The Twitter community was amazing, the whole group knows who they are. Seeing others getting their workouts in keeps you honest and doing your own.
Stefan Jacobsen at Nanaimo Frontrunners who saved my feet and helped a rookie out with his vet experience many times, and Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo for always fixing my ride quickly and for wicked deals. So much advise from great people in Nanaimo (Janna, Colleen, list goes on and on). There’s tons of others who helped but this is becoming an Oscar speech and Ive tried to email out thank yous already so you know who you are.
And lastly ALS Canada for the help along the way. Couldn’t have happened without!

Support Crew

Taper to Ironman Canada

2011-09-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

On The Road

Loaded to the nuts

Got the Jersey

The past 3 weeks have been hell. Some people love the taper, I go crazy. Of course there could be much worse problems in life.. At the training camp I had my last good hard effort on July 30th, biking the entire Ironman Canada bike course. 3 weeks out from IMC was Aug 6th, on that day I was out for a moderate 3-4 hour bike ride when my gear shifter exploded 10k in and I was stuck in the big ring. Riding up a long climb in the 53-11 is not a fun place. Not happy times. Very stressed thinking what the hell Ill do if this happens on race day, but the obvious answer is deal with it. On that day its how you deal with what comes at you that'll dictate your race.

Weds Aug 24
We drove up to Penticton on August 23rd and checked into our motel, nice place with a pool and courtyard. Our room has its own kitchen at least for cooking meals along with a separate bedroom for when I need my naps! The nervous tension in town is insane, people are all out ripping on the road bikes, running by me, and here I am resting? Easy to second guess yourself but still have to trust the training. Nothing can be gained from working hard this week. We checked in about 130pm and I proceeded to sleep for about 3 hours. Woke up just in time to head down to Whole Foods to see Jordan Rapp (09 IMC Champ and car hit and run survivor) give a speech on nutrition. It was great to see and he gives a good talk, met him after for a few other questions before we left. We stopped by the support crews house for a visit and to see everyone, had hoped to grab a dinner with them but with all the wee ones dinner planning on day 1 was out the window. Stayed until about 9 before heading back to crash. Feel lethargic.

Jordan Rapp's Nutrition Speech

Saw this in whole foods (didn't need it)

Thursday Aug 25
Ophee and I went out for an easy 45minute bike ride down Skaha Lake this morning first thing before breakfast, so good to actually DO something.

Ophee riding Skaha

No shortage of compression socks and zoot gear anywhere and everywhere. The buildup to the race is almost as bad as the race! So are the logistics, I first was able to register on Thursday morning. I should've known that everyone is TypeA and would line up as soon as it opened so the line was about an hour or so. Once I got my bag of 5 bags, wristband firmly on, and paid another $5 for an ankle strap to hold my race chip (I guess $650 doesn't cover a suitable means of holding the chip on your ankle), then we went into the merchandise tent. Another 1.5 hours there I think, didnt get much as I didnt want to jinx anything. Just a mug and toque and a bag...but promised myself if (IF) I DNF this race I get rid of it all.
Back to the motel after this I was bagged, crashed out for an hour then woke up just in time to head down to Lakeshore Drive to see the kids in the IronKids 1k race. Saw everyone for about 3 seconds since they had to rush to get the kids back and into bed. Ophee and I swung by Theos to meet a few friends for about an hour, then finally over to Coach Carolyns condo where they had a small bbq party to meet them for dessert. Roger, Pam, Bob, and Blair were all there as well.

IronKids

This is what I would rather have been doing all week, pool time

Friday Aug 26

Prepping gear bags and race day food

None of the boys would meet me for a swim so I went down for a super easy 15-20 minute swim in the lake. I waited too long (10am) and the waves were big, choppy waters. I decided to get all of my bags sorted out today, T1 and T2 bags, then Morning Dry Goods Bags, plus Bike Special Needs and Run Special Needs bags. I went over lists and overanalyzed for a solid 2-3 hours. Tired but it had to be done. Then a nap, on the beach of course.

Bags Packed (finally)

At 6pm met Shawn, Vicki, Joel, and Paula for the Athletes welcome dinner and meeting at the conference centre while Ophee went up to the crew's house for dinner. It was a decent feed, tough to stand outside in the glaring sun for the long lineup though. A few good speeches, noted that some people have run this 25 times in a row, insanity. Ophee picked me up and we rolled home to the motel for more early sleep.

Welcome Dinner

Saturday Aug 27

One more day! Some people say do nothing friday, others say do nothing saturday.. One thing I've learned during this taper (in which I tapered TOO much I suspect yet others say not enough) is to just do a little bit and keep moving, trust yourself. Went out for an easy 20 minute jog with a few pickups just to Skaha Lake and around. Today had to check in my T1 and T2 bags, along with my bike. Unfortunately parking is a pain at this time of year here so we were late for our scheduled 12pm one hour massages, thankfully we still got in. Great little flush out of the muscles from 12-1. At 1 I checked my bike and t1 t2 bags in, while trying to figure a place to put my race number.

My Mom is out in Penticton to support so while Ophee went for a wine tour (and probably to get away from my nervous tension) I met Mom and Arlen to go for lunch and one last pit stop at bike barn. They drove me up to the crews house to visit with Josh Darren Mark and Adam while they sipped beers poolside and I chugged waters. Ophee was out putting up posters the way back so when she arrived we pretty much took off to get back to the hotel and get prepared and eat. I randomly chose a movie to watch, 127 hours, of Aran Ralston who had to cut his own arm off in a canyon just to survive, fitting? Had a huge meal of turkey meatballs, ate til I was stuffed then laid down again. Really feeling the nerves. In bed at 8pm, probably was asleep by 930pm.

Race #

Training Camp in Penticton

2011-09-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

TBA

Victoria 1/2 Ironman - Race Report

2011-09-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Vic 1/2 IM - June 19, 2011

1900m swim
86k bike
20k run

RACE REPORT: (get yourself a coffee first)
Saturday: drive down to Vic, hit MEC for some exchanges then battle horrid traffic downtown to get to the race site after 3. Checked in, and racked my bike then listened to the mandatory meeting from 4. Over to Marks place after for a great turkey meatball pasta dinner at 630 then tried to hit the sheets by 830 or 845. Owen was on a tear though after a late nap and was doing leg drops from the bedroom above me and crying fits right til about 11pm. Good birth control for me. Nerves were getting the better of me this afternoon, questioning myself and what the hell I'm doing here.

Sunday: Up at 4am, ate a bagel with PB and mixed a hot water with blendy kohi stick to kickstart the system appropriately. Hit the can and long hot shower to loosen up then on the road at 445am. Got to the start about 515, ran into Tom from Comox in the body marking lineup which was only left hand in this one. Got my ankle chip and marking done early so had time to relax, all by 530am. Spent 45mins or so at my bike laying out transition gear. O zipped my wetsuit up at 635 and then i had to piss yet again, hit the bathroom then rezipped.. strolled into the water and..

SWIM 1900m    45:04
645am gun goes off. No stress or nerves for me since I wasnt waiting in there very long. 400 swimmers all battling away wasnt the funnest moment, but i made a rule if any dipshit elbowed me 3 times i was macho man elbow dropping him back which i had to do. Lots of kicks and torrential waters. Finally into a rythm and got around the first buoy in 19:33 (830m), second corner in 4:17 (170m), then 21:05 (900M) back. Really only was able to draft on some toes for parts of thh first leg. Seemed like the second leg I was in no mans land all on my own with noone around, someone was drafting off me though for sure, the constant touching of my toes proved that.
OFFICIAL TIME: 45:04 (314th/354) (2:23/100M PACE)

T1: 6:39
Ran up while kicking my wetsuit off my arms and once at my bike I realized my heart was just pounding. Took a minute to calm down and then got socks, shoes, helmet, gloves on. Walked my bike out of the racks to the mat so that probably took longer too. Either way, today wasnt about stressing transitions just making sure i didnt forget something.
OFFICIAL TIME: 6:39 (329th/354)

Time coming out of Swim and T1: 51:43 and in 315th

BIKE 88km   3:06:44
Last week rode a 45k loop of this course in 2hours 10mins and felt like dogshit, its a hard hilly course. Got going and felt good, the hard part of a tri is you have to pass someone within 15 seconds once you enter their draft zone of 12m back tire to front tire, and 3m wide. A huge gap. So it tends to make you sprint past people alot. I had perpetuem on the go with 5 scoops for nearly 700 calories, pretty well drank it all. The one mistake I made was carrying another bottle of electrolyte drink because they were handing out full water bottles Trek of gatorade and water to everyone at the 2 aid stations. I took a bottle at first station 20k in or so. Drank most of it holding onto it while riding, then put it in back pocket. By the 2nd aid station at 35k my bladder was killing me, I pulled in and hit the green room for the longest piss of my life before running back out on the bike. Hit first loop of 43k in 1hour 32mins, saw Ophee who had walked a k or so after her volunteer stint was over to cheer me on. 2nd loop my guts started to go, its a battle to force yourself to fuel that much. Still passed more people and felt good regardless, first aid station i again took a bottle of water and forced myself to drink the 800ml in about 40mins of holding onto it. Bladder so full at 2nd aid station but i wanted to keep my bike rhythm up and finished pretty strong in 3:06 for a 28.3 avg over the 88km.
OFFICIAL BIKE : 3:06:44 (247th/354)

Time after bike 3:58:27 (272nd place)

T2: 4:18
Saw Ophee, Mark, Katie, and Owen. Changed shoes, drank some water, took more sodium tablets, then had to VEE line it for the green room before exiting transition. The lady I had just passed was also going in to the one next to me. While pissing I had the worst gas of my life, the sounds echoing and amplifying out, pretty sure she was embarrassed FOR me. Stepped out at the same time of course, and she mentions how bad she had to piss the last 30k on the bike too.
OFFICIAL TIME: 4:18 (323rd/354)

After T2 time 4:02:44 in 274th place

Run 21KM   1:55:43
Highfives to the crowd and ripped my race number when exiting t2 off my fuel belt, so one hole was hanging off. I re pinned it using the bottom hole, which meant it was diagonally on my front looking retarded. Around 6k I stopped and 8k also to try to fix it and poke a new hole but no go. Wasted a bit of time there. First k was 508, little excited to de numb my feet i think. settled into a pace and drank water each station.
5k 27:47
10k 58:10 (30:23)-trying to fix holes on number
15k 1:28:35 (30:25) - one long piss while family walked by pretending not to see me
20k 1:55:34 (26:59)
Around 10k I realized I had to push hard to break 6 hours total time, so each K I just tried to knock a little time off and keep the pace going even though my legs were like lead and the pain was insane. Got to 17k and Mark was there to run for a few hundred metres, then pushed on to the finish passing alot of fading runners. Clocked it in 5:58 ecstatic beyond my wildest expectations to have finished it. Slumped in the chair while the rubber gloved lady removed my ankle bracelet, told her she shouldve had a hazmat mask on. Hit up the goods tent and stumbled around happy as shit.
OFFICIAL TIME: 1:55:32 (203/354) 5:29 PACE

Finish time 5:58:15 in 251st/354.

May 29/11 Comox Sprint Tri - Race Report

2011-09-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

Comox Sprint Triathlon 750m Swim / 20k Bike / 5k Run

Swim 750m 16:46
Got to the rec grounds at 845 to check in the bikes. Race start time was vague, 1015-1045 depending on when the previous heat was finished in the pool. System was 13 heats, the fastest being the last heat. Each heat's lane had 4 swimmers based on estimated times. I put 19:15 as my estimated time even though I'd never swam that fast. Last Sept swim time was 24:15 over 650m (pace?). I was blue cap so third in the heat, going every 5 seconds. 30 lengths in a boiling hot pool. Got 1 length in and passed swimmer 2, 3rd length I passed swimmer 1 and felt good and actually felt somewhat efficient. I lost count right away and just prayed each lap that the counter would double tap my head to let me know I had 1 out and back left.

As the lady tapped my head one girl cut me off and darted out but still held me up, a little pissed off because really its an individual event and youll shave almost no time by cutting me off when youve rode my toes for the last 28 lengths. Final length back and girl 3 pushes past me so I had to slow again, b!tch. After the race she apologized. Even with, finished 16:46 in the water then had to monkeyfuck the poolside to get out of the pool even.

T1 - 3:50
Only a bit longer than others around me. The run from pool deck, out the door, through 100 of gravel parking lot, down stairs, and another 2-300m to the bikes was long and strange. Problem was when putting my jersey on the number ripped half off on the back, then had to re pin it, twice, if I was worried about a valuable 30s to 60s that was it. Walk/jogged my bike out onto the road another 100m or so away. heart just pounding, dry heaved a couple times.

Bike 20k 35:07 34.8km/hr pace

Onto the bike and then basically up Headquarters Road and back. See the elevation, continuous climb and into a headwind (but not too strong). Knee felt good and I hammered it pretty hard to get there passing alot. Never passed by anyone entire 20k. At 10k point I passed Josh where he mentioned his bike was creaking away, credit to him though hes riding a bike for the first time and only 2nd road bike ride since ironman 09. The way back average was pretty fast, looking down the odd time kept it 42-43kph. got to the road turn off and dismounted then ran it the long way in again. Stayed aero almost entire ride.
Out Back Splits: 19:16/15:11

Official bike time says 35:07, so i'm guessing they counted my time from when I ran out til I was running in (part way up trail not right where youd mount/dismount.

T2 time: 1:46.
pretty fast on this one, helmet off, tried to load foreruner but satellites wouldnt connect so just threw helmet off, went barefeet straight into runners quick tie up and was out. Josh was coming in as I was running out and gave me a warning of 'i better run fast'.

Run 5k 21:41 (suspect the course was short)
FR305 wouldnt connect so just have the time here. Fr305 time 22:43. but official time 21:41 (josh 21:42) so i guess they counted it as I left the gated area not the Transition zone? Run was on shaded trails which was good since temps were hot as shit out. Heard a guy behind me and figured it was josh, held him off til the end when he bolted, it was a different dude. Got to the track for a half lap ala Sapporo Marathon 04 (05?) and finished total time 1:19:12.

Final Official Timekeeper (kids with note books and watches) Stats
Swim 16:48
T1 3:50
Bike 35:07
Bike TPK 1:45
T2 1:46
Run 21:41
1:19:12
14th/65 overall sprint competitors
1st in division M 30-34 (only two in it as it turned out)

Overall super pumped with the results, first and last time I'll win a division Im sure. Pushed it as hard as I could. Jacked with the swim time, far beyond my expectations, 8 minutes faster than Cultus which was 100m shorter even.

Happy with the bike too as cultus was 40:10 so shaved 5 minutes off there, and the run my legs felt good even though I couldve pushed a bit faster if my heart wouldve slowed enough.

5/8 Huge Weekend of Mountains

2011-09-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Big weekend!

First up I met up with the Runners of Compassion Group, RoC, Nanaimo. Great group of people. Left at 730am with group B, only 3 of us, great trails and climbs and singletrack. Pushed hard on the way out keeping the pace with a much fitter lady. Also was lucky enough to be behind a very gassy lady, good motivation to sprint past at least.

AMMONITE FALLS HIKE

Ammonite Falls Hike

To get here we drove up to WitchCraft Lake. Good hike in then have to rappel down the muddy bank with two fixed ropes. Hiked back up then over to Benson. Falls were awesome, definitely going back to them. LOVE how accessible everything is here.

MT.BENSON

Hard hike with Jim and Ophee. Straight after the Ammonite Falls hike, drove up and went for the summit push knowing it was about 2 hours up. Jim pushed the issue wanting to go for it, even though it hailed at one point as well as the cloud being so thick we could see 100feet around us. Good solid hike, but had to turn back when we hit crazy deep snow pack and time was going away. Longu day of hiking and trails, but full throttle awesomeness.

4/30 Long Run Half Cut

2011-06-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Definitely my first DUI long run. Morning hockey game at 8am, then hit the breaky, game 2 at 1115, then hit the free bbq lunch upstairs. Out to Mkeiths pad after 3 tinnies for a solidly mixed spiced rum n ginger... with a healthy glow and nice ball of cancer growing from all the second hand smoke from Dartsy McKeith all weekend I decided to get a run in. No idea where to go, no idea what route. I'm not sure going for a run was my best idea but I knew I wanted to get a long one in on the weekend to stay on program. That, and I had a mini bomb dropped on me and wanted to get a good run in to clear the brains.

Running semi cut has an advantage though since you just keep goin and the time flies. Ran past the events center, then down towards the golden ears bridge in the distance. Took a couple tries to find the pedestrian ramp up it, ran up to the highest point on the bridge then turned back, that was about 9.5k mark. Times got slower and slower as I got more and more dehydrated, and sober.

Tried to shortcut my route through one road but it turned out to be a deadend, some dude with 7 teeth total told me I might as well run back to 200th rather than 'turspass' on anyones prawperty. (direct quote)

Got back at 515 or so and got the pressure to shower and get out from Cigs before had a chance to stretch. Interupted his fast and the furious five driving impression to get a chocolate milk to half recover a bit at least! To the banquet by 6 bells to see the Nucks, free roast beef din.

Legs feel cooked, but jacked that I got this run in.

NOTE: weight in the morning was 188. Weight upon return from run 181. 7 pounds, holy dehydrated.

4/22 Fletchers Challenge Trail Race

2011-06-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Fletchers Challenge 2011

Ka-riste that was a hard run. The hardest trail race Ive done for sure. Olly made the effort and drove up from Vic to run this one with me, and in the process nailed down a 12th place overall spot, sick. I slid deftly into 30th (out of 66 runners).

The route did part of Westwood lake then climbed, climbed, climbed, ran through (and along) a few creeks with water running over the ankles, deep mud, heart redlining climbs, and some steep downhills where it was hold on for dear life. Pretty intense. Rolled my ankle(s) early on about 25mins in and had to jack it down a bit for awhile. Got passed by 5 runners I think. Cookie platters after were solid, so was the beer and flatbreads back at the house.

Will come back stronger to this next year.

Runners of Compassion
http://rocnanaimo.com/running.html

4/21 First ever time trial

2011-06-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

What am I getting myself into. This was week 1 of the Mid Island Velo Association's weekly time trial Thursdays. I thought it was at 730, actually it was at 630. I found this out at 621. By 623 I was in lycra and peeling out of the garage with bike on the rack.

Arrived at 630 and signed in, except I forgot my money, so rainchecked it. Geared up with arm warmers etc as fast as possible then realized I forgot...my helmet. Idiot.

Thankfully the organizer had his in his car or I wouldve been SOL.

With zero warm up and 16 serious bike nerds around me I told myself just dont get last, dont get last. The ride climbs for a fair portion of the way out to 7.5k marker, hitting 175m elev at its highest. On the way back its time to cook it down, with 3 mini climbs too though. Had a goal of breaking 30mins, then went for averaging 33. check check! Wicked good times, and best of all, didnt get last. 38.6km/hr average on return half.

Heart rate pretty high but not redlining it.

Might have to make these a weekly adventure.

Mid Island Velo Association MIVA http://bikeracing.ca/

Swimming and throwin right hooks 4/20

2011-06-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Woke at 510, tried to talk myself into sleeping in and that I needed these 2 extra hours. Willpower won out after a bowl of mini wheats. Hard workout, the last 400 set I red-lined, coach yelled at me to stay on Bills feet and catch him, I caught him and passed him. Dont think he was happy about it because during cooldown lengths he came straight at me in my line and his stroke caught me in the goggles like a punch without a word of sorry. Why he decided to pass his wife when on a cooldown lap and head straight up my line, who knows.
Coach pulled me aside after and said it was my breakthrough session today, not sure what that means but I'll take that as a good sign.

Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club 4/19

2011-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

Trail Route - I just add this to show how BAD the Bing Maps Aerials really are. Thanks for switching from Google Maps to ShitBing and not listening to your customers Garmin.

Best decision I made all day was to suddenly grab the mountain bike and go for a ride. Decided to go even though it was finally a day off the program.

After losing keys 3 times and borrowing the neighbours lawnmower, was on my way by 530 for what I thought would be a half hour ride.

Extension/Transcanada trail start point, rode the power line up searching for singletrack jutting off. Found one quite far up the climb and it was BEAUTY. Except for wondering about cougars. Looped around, got lost a few times, and then headed back taking random trails the whole way, some dead ends, some good. Upon getting to the parking lot after a solid hour and 5 minutes I saw a group of mountain bikers in the lot.

Chatted with them a bit and theyre the nanaimo mtb club, they were nice enough to invite me along for their ride. Decided even though I was tired I'd go, good chance to meet locals and learn trails. Turned out to be super mellow good group of people. Couple IMC finishers who gave me great advice, so refreshing to meet some real IM athletes who arent strung out and talking about pace/splits/hr nonstop.

So glad I made it out for this ride!

Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club http://www.nanaimomountainbikeclub.com/

Thetis Island Bike Tour 4/16

2011-06-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

As a surprise for my turning another year older, O planned a full day bike tour out to Thetis Island.

Rode the Jake with trunk bag so I could carry some shoes for a mini hike if sun was out, and some gear, cyclocross tires are noticeably slower but more comfy short term.

We headed out at 1030am, over to Cedar road then down to hwy1, hit chemainus road and followed that to the ferry terminal. Great ride, but didnt feel too spry after last nights hard 15k run. Awesome bakery in town though that got murdered by myself. Rains flirted with us the whole ride, never too wet though. Bakery lady told me it hailed hard just behind us from Nanaimo southward, nice timing..

Chemainus

Ferry is just a tiny vehicle raft more or less, fits 20 some cars, tiny room for passengers, no prob. Chilled in there and some random little girl chatted us up.

Obviously the leg warmers aren't working

Beautiful roads on Thetis

Beautiful hill climbs on Thetis

Onto Thetis Island for our first time ever, holy hills. From sea level up to 130m in first 4k, then steep down another 15% grade to the point (end of road). It was sllooowwww. Like cranking the big rings at a cadence of about 20 and going 5-6kph slow. Hit the point and did some quick timing with the ferry, decided to boot it back but that meant a hard climb up the 15% again on the out n back. Hit the hill as two other cyclists were coming by, some cyclists can be serious douches, elitist weirdos these two were. Got to the ferry and waited 4 minutes tops for the 250pm back.

Back in Chemainus after the 25min ferry and was at 48k point, needing 30 to get home, tired. My legs started to get sore and my right ass/hip muscle tightened up harsh. Pulled over a couple times on the hwy1 with the rush of cars deafening me to stretch. Rained almost the entire way back, started to defeat me. Very very sketchy point in the final km from home where you have to cross 2 lanes of traffic where cars are going 90 around a blind curve, dumb dumb dumb setup. I told O about it before we approached it. As we got there I looked, no cars, started across the 2 lanes, a truck comes flying in inner lane and O is behind me crossing slowly. Truck starts honking and my heart went out ,too close. If she had panicked or swerved there would be a very bad ending there.

Got home to clean the bikes off and then scrub the bbq of 5 yrs of mold and grit. Most excellent ride!

Morrell Sanctuary - 4/10

2011-06-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

Still exploring some new trails nearby..

What a pisspoor day outside, winds and heavy rain. Felt shitty about missing a longer ride but after 3 games of hockey over the weekend my legs felt pretty beat up anyways. Instead ran the Morrell Sanctuary trail for a nice easy run, came home and put together a canadian tire desk for about 2 hours and 200 f bombs, did a medicine ball workout, pull ups, then onto the trainer for a 30min spin. The 'boyz' are going numb badly every ride these days...

Some nice pics of Morrell... great trails

Chainsaws and Motorbikes - Nanaimo Lakes Road 4/3

2011-06-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday Long Ride.

Slept in til 9, by far the latest in a few weeks. Felt good but a bit sore from the long trail run yesterday. The bikes and gear was ready last night so just cooked up some eggs and toast and was out the door once digested.

Rode up the parkway trail til Harewood Mines Rd, rooty and climbs from 30m to 110m. From there its left up the road which turns into Nanaaimo Lakes Road, lots of climbing. Got to 200m and knew I still had to get to 300m elevation before we topped out. Slow going, definitely going to do this route as a training ride but not part of the long rides for awhile, punishing to know you climb for 45 mins just to go 12k, when you have to hit 56k for the day by the end.

Lots of rednecks on this route, chainsaws, ford f150s, motorbikes, quads, ciggies, and flannel jackets aplenty. Chilly day today after summer yesterday, feet numb, balls non existant. O took the turn at white rapids rd to head the 5k home while I headed out for the meat of the ride out to Yellow Point / Cedar to loop around to home. Lots of rolling hills, some stretches of really shit pavement, but overall good 2 1/2 hr workout. Forgot my HR monitor.

Love the garmin edge.

Swim Club Entry, Time to be Humbled 3/28

2011-06-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Recognizing that if I'm going to have a shot in hell at completing the swim leg of Ironman Canada this summer, I had better get some better form on the swim. Bad technique just means you'll work as hard or harder than others but you won't go anywhere.

I joined up with the Hub City Tri Club, hoping to meet a few people and get out on some training rides with them through the spring and summer. The club has set up a swim coach for a 12 week set, Mondays and Wednesdays at 6am. Waking up at 5 can only get easier....

Today was tough, and so so humbling. I stumbled around at 5am, in the darkness drove out of the garage and over to the NAC. The swim coach is John, seems like a good guy. The group appears to be an uber fit assembly of very fast swimmers. I went in the slower lane and got absolutely worked. Today ended up being about 1600m, with the coach giving me plenty of tips out of the water.

I am a human anchor.

Yellow Point Ride - Brick Run 3/26

2011-06-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

Always good times to learn new routes around you. Had a nice ride out on Cedar Road then to Yellow Point. O and I stopped and enjoyed the beach for a bit before carrying on. This was her first road ride in awhile but she still did great. Some funny (one could say, rednecky) signs out this way "No Trespassing, is it worth your life?".

Got back to the house then headed out for an easy 5k run.

Westwood Lake Runs - 3/19

2011-06-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Westwood Lake is this amazing little oasis right on the edge of the city and nudged up against the base of Mt.Benson. I remember 6 years ago running this when on a trip back from Japan I was visiting Josh here and he took me out for a lap followed by some runs out in Colliery. I clearly remember how very "Vancouver Island" it felt when visiting the lake back in '05 on that trip with the huge trees and vegetation everywhere.

Today I drove the quick ten minutes to Westwood lake and planned on running 5k out back (10) then another 4k to round out to 14k. Ended up just doing 2 laps of the 6k lake loop, followed by a 1k out and back to equal 14 instead. Added the final lake loop km hill climb to the long run which hurt like fuk but has to be good for me somehow.

Stopped at 6k and 12k for quick water and part of a bar. Ran this one just keeping hte heart rate down and ran for time (goal was over 1h20).

Lake Loop 1 36:50
Lake Loop 2 35:22

How good is it to be able to drive 10 minutes in zero traffic and be at the lake??

The NAC

2011-06-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

One of the big drawing points to moving to Nanaimo was definitely the pool, and I'm not even a swimmer. Having that nice long 50m pool to do lengths in is amazing, and it's not warm (and yellowish) like a kiddy pool that so many have to swim in! I heard that back in the day there was quite a resistance in Nanaimo to build a pool that big saying that no one would use it.

From what I've seen there's a very large group of fit, happy, and active individuals who would argue that, and that's just at first glance. Build the facilities, parks, soccer pitches, baseball diamonds, tracks, hockey arenas, TRAILS, and you'll stand a much better chance at a very healthy community as well as kids who will enjoy the outdoors more than a PS3.

March 5 - Colliery Dam

2011-06-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Settling into Nanaimo, awesome to have a few days to unpack for the first time in EIGHT years. Since I left for Japan in 2003 I haven't ever been in one spot to unpack fully. I'm pulling out boxes of stuff I forgot I even had. Makes you realize how much you really don't need.

Out for a beauty run on the Parkway Trail, so close to home and goes on for 18km one way to the north end of the city. It reminded me of my old stomping grounds in Sapporo, the Shiroishi Cycling Road. Though that pathway can never be matched this one is pretty good.

We got out for a nice hour or so bike ride up the pathway too, checked out Colliery Dam Park. Looking forward to finding more and more trails...

The Busy Period is Almost Over

2011-04-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

March 2nd, 2011

I won't lie, it's been a shit show for about 6 weeks from the time I left for Vegas for my stag in late January, to now in early March. Managed to sell a condo, go to Vegas, quit my job, start my new job, move out of condo the day before leaving to our wedding in Dominican Republic, spend a week on the beach (sounds great, was great, but also lots of 'gistics when bringing alot of people along), return and 2 days later have a large Chinese banquet, 2 days later get Uhaul, pack up life for second time, try to move but ferry is shut down due to winds for most of the day, eventually move to Vancouver Island (like a dream), start a *new* job, and settle into my first ever home. Whirlwind!

Feeling really positive these days though, so many great changes happening in life and loving the steps forward. It's time to really dig down and get training harder for Ironman Canada now, no more 'going through the motions'.

Back from the Beach, and Married!

2011-04-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

What an awesome week away with my fiance-now-wife and our families and friends. There is nothing like having good people together and I can't thank everyone enough who made the effort to come down.

Training-wise, I managed to get in a couple treadmill runs and an outdoor run with my brother and Sly Bri. The outdoor run was an hour before I got married (nerves?), just to lace them up on my wedding day! We ventured out the gated community of the resort and were followed by a black suburban, pretty sure it was just hotel security but who knows. Had to turn back partway through a shanty town when a stray dog decided to chase three very pasty dudes. Back in time to barely shower, get ready for the wedding, and walk over to the ceremony, I'd have it no other way!

Update Feb.15

2011-02-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

Where to start? I'll try to keep it brief.

January started off as a GREAT training month, I nailed 3 weeks of a new program getting 3-4 runs a week, 3 bikes, and 1 swim. Then I was forced kicking and screaming to my stag party held in Las Vegas. That was a bit nuts. Also 3 days of binge drinking is not in many Ironman Handbooks.

Returning to Canada I battled a cold, that even 3 weeks later hasnt gone away. I lost a fair amount of training time but still tried to maintain at least. My fiance and I sold our condo, I got a new job, I quit my old one, we found a house on Vancouver Island, we bought it, set up all the fun details of buying a house, and moved out of our condo the day before leaving for our wedding. I can't think of a time when I've been as overwhelmed as right now, but these are all positive changes and I'm looking forward to the next step in life.

I'm off to the Caribbean for my wedding now and will hopefully be able to write about a few workouts down there though it is an all you can eat all you can drink... making it all the more important to get a jog in down there when I can.

Photos later.. Im off!

New Years Day 50k Ride

2011-02-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

1-1-11
Morning at Dennys, nap, then out with the fiance to park in Pitt Meadows and go for a road ride for 50k. Good ride, nice and flat, not busy, but holy shit cold feet. Like ice blocks by the end, painful as the sun set. Definitely buying booties.

First ever ride with the EDGE 500, and IT.IS.AWESOME.

Google Aerial

BING Aerial - Just to show how bad of a decision garmin connect made when switching their maps over from Google

The new Garmin!

Gu Chomps frozen into one block

New Years Eve - rounding out the year

2011-02-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Rounding out 2010 with a 100k month. Start out the workout by running a 13k out to central park, looping, and back. Swung by the metrotown pharmacy to sort out their mistake from 2 months ago and get my 50 clams back.

Didnt run for time on this, but tried to keep my heart rate just under 150bpm. Running through the park the k's went slower but so nice in there it was good to take it a bit easy. Pushed hard the last 4k to keep them all under 5:20. Finished at starbucks for a skim latte.. thats it thats all!

After the 13k run at a good clip, I figured I'd be set to sip my latte, but with the sun out and feeling jacked up I was out the door and down the elevator for a ride. Then back up 27 floors to get my gloves, then back down.. 10 minutes gone there.

Wanting to beat my last 2 weeks rides of this same route of 1hour 21 minutes I pushed a bit harder. Slowed for a few pics with my iphone along river road though, so nice in the sun but cold out. Definitely much more comfortable in the aero position on this ride, probably the mid 28k was aero, wicked!

Back as the sun set, time to eat up and hit the bottle. Happy New Year!

mx 50.2

cadence 76 / 105

Nanaimo Training Day

2011-01-17T02:34:00.000-08:00

Dec 4 - 2010

One thing I miss about living up at the Icefield in a staff accom was having friends around all the time, and training partners anywhere you look. Want to hit a hike up? 5 people ready to go with you. Need motivation for a 10k? A buddy is pushing you out the door. Living in a big city when you have to drive 30 minutes for 10k is a big big difference.

We were out on the island again this weekend and I had the chance to meet up with Josh (nailed IM Canada in 2009) to get a swim in together and some swimming tips. Hit up Timmys drive thru for a quick coffee as I left the hotel at 745 and up to the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre. Beautiful facility here, 50m pool so nice! We were swimming just after 8 and he was off like a cannon. For a big guy more built for rugby I don't know how he swims so fast. Our first 500m was my race pace pretty much. We ended up getting over 2000m in by the end, felt awesome to be rolling back to the hotel free breakfast already having got a good workout in!

After watching a very mediocre Santa Clause Parade (there were multiple Santa's in this, which should prove traumatic for some kids, am I wrong?). Even had the opportunity to watch a true redneck driving his John Deere down main street stroking a mounted deer head with duct tape on its nose, how did this 'float' get approved? Or did he just happen to drive up and join in? Baffling.

Met up with Josh again around 2 for a trail run around Westwood Lake. Its a 6k loop around. As he got there I let him in on the news that we were doing a 12k double loop, impressed he was. Kept a good pace and of course lots of bs'ing along the run but saw about 12 seconds of sun the entire time as it had just ducked behind the ridgeline. Frozen 'mid section' yet again! Hit up his inlaws place for a shower to thaw out then out for some good eats and unfortunately, back to the mainland.

Westwood Lake - some serious climbing at one end

Solid day!