On Wednesday, I’m going to race the 4km swim at Sasamat lake. I love this photo of me and my Dad. Apparently, I’m having a tantrum. 
Swimming outdoors is one of my favorite things. No more tantrums.
Getting Ready for Canada Day Swim
Reply
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Queensborough Run
I ran in a new area today and it was beautiful. Mixed trails and road with lots of time spent along the river shoreline made for a nice route. 
I also enjoyed talking with Rob about his IronMan Coeur d’Alene experience and relaxing in the sunshine on the Starbucks patio after the run.
1:43:17, 19km
Avg HR 143
link to route map
Brunching, er I mean, Biking
I had a nice leisurely ride with my LETC friends this weekend – which was really just an excuse to do brunch. Thanks Amy for making the awesome French Toast! and Brian for making me multiple lattes! The start was a bit like herding cats [right Brian?!] but once we got rolling the ride was very nice. Laurel, the swim coach from the SAA joined us for the day. My favorite part was riding with the ladies (Bronwyn, Laurel, and Teresa) out and back on River Road. After arriving home, I headed back out on the bike ride – this time with the dog. We hung out on the beach, she had a quick swim and then I read my book while she dug holes in the sand. All day bike with friends followed by an afternoon on the beach, yup, life is good.
3:27:05, 83km
24.1kph Avg, 51.3 kph Max
129 Avg HR, 160 Max
86 Avg Cad, 113 Max
Stan took some pictures from the brunch so I’ll post ‘em up here tomorrow – when I remember to bring my camera and the cable … here they are!
Summer Routine
This week, I was back to my comfortable summer routine of weekly workouts. Monday off, Tues/Thurs running, Wed/Fri swimming, and a few more workouts thrown in for good measure.
Here’s the stats for my Tuesday bike commute. The second half was harder because realized I was going to be late for the run.
45:51, 21.4km
28.2 kph Avg Sp, 49.6 kph Max
139 Avg HR, 161 Max
85 Avg Cad, 104 Max
Followed by an 8 or 9km pretty hard tempo run (with quick T2 at my place). I showed up a bit late so had to rush and then run hard to catch JJ and Calvin,
Wednesday 3400m morning swim, raining so happy to skip the bike ride in the evening
Thursday run, hills 4 x loop at QE park in Vancouver
Friday 3400m morning swim
Third Half of Oliver Race Report
The second half of my Oliver race report is here. I don’t want to stretch this race report out too much longer… but the reason why I’m reflecting is that I’d like to learn from what happened on the run – specifically on the second half of the run. Short story, I ran out of gas. For the long story, keep on reading.
I felt great coming off the bike. I came in just behind one girl, and noticed that only one bike from my age group’s rack had returned. My head space was great – and I was feeling great. 
I wasn’t running hard, just steady. I definitely felt the extra effort on the bike, but was still running well. I passed a bunch of folks including one girl within the first 5km. At the first turn around, I could see some very strong racers behind me so I knew I was in a very good position. My headspace was awesome. The run hurt, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I’m not exactly sure where it all went wrong. But I definitely ran out of gas. Somewhere in the first loop I discovered that my stomach was saying, “No way, Jose to gatorade.” I tried to get a gel in me Continue reading
Second Half of Oliver Race Report
The first half of my Oliver race report is here…
Race Day morning started really early. 4:30am or 5am or something ridiculous like that. I’m not a fan of the early wakeup. Since it was so early, we decided that it was a dumb idea for Torbin to come with me to the start. It’s tough being a spectator – because you can’t go anywhere I go – and I basically just hang out with my triathlon friend and/or focus on the race. So his plan was to sleep in and then come see me later in the afternoon. Good plan, worked out well, especially since I know that his support is there every day!
Ok, so now we’re at the swim start. I’m a different swimmer now. Much faster, so I wanted to get a spot near the front. I was in the first row… but way out on the side. The strategy worked well. As you can see from the picture, it still was a bit crazy but I was way more comfortable. I like the new one loop course. My time was 34:03 (last year 34:54) – Hmmm, maybe I was a little too comfortable and probably should have gone faster. Oh well, no biggee, it was comfortable. 
After the swim, we had a 500m-650m run to transition. It wasn’t too bad… kind of a nice opportunity to get your head back from the swim and get ready for transition. There was one bike gone from my rack, and this helped me to think, “OK, race starts Continue reading
Victoria
I caught the 7am ferry over today and rode my bike over to Victoria to cheer for my friends in the Half Iron race. This race holds a special place in my heart – as my first big triathlon. I found a spot at the top of the hill just after McTavish Road. As soon as I was settled, the motorbike for the lead male zipped bye. Perfect timing. I brought my bell, and cheered for all the racers. I had fun cheering for all my friends… and lots of fun cheering for all the rest of the racers. Loads of smiles and good comments came my way. One racer even said, “Wow! You’re exactly where I needed you.” Another comment, “Less Bell, more Push” – from a big guy struggling up the hill. [laugh] It was a good time. I then rode to the Elk Lake to catch up with everyone on the run, and hang out with my friends. We caught the 4pm ferry back home, enjoyed some good laughs, and I had a nice chat with Steve King. Another successful Victoria Half Iron – this time as a spectator.
Here’s a photo of my friend Erin at the finish,
Garden pictures
Triathletes like to eat…. so I’m posting these awesome pictures from my garden.
I can tell you that food from the garden tastes especially good after riding a bike up Mt. Baker.
I had to get a VISA to enter the US. Cost me $6… The VISA form had a question, “Are you a terrorist?” Yes / No. After paying my $6, getting fingerprinted, and answering all “No’s” to the questionnaire, they let me in.
A great ride with a small crew to Mt Baker. Beautiful scenery, huge trees, lots of climbing, very cold descent, good people, and an excellent wheel home. A recipe for a good ride.
ride stats
3h40 to the top of the hill, 5h49:02 home, 143.7km
24.7kph avg (tons of uphill), 60.1kph max (wet downhill descent so had to take it easy)
141 HR Avg, 164 Max, 3061kcal
81 avg Cad, 107 Max
Oliver Race Report
I had a really good time in Oliver and I’ve got the photos to prove it. 
For me, racing well is not about my time and/or my placing, it’s about my internal attitude. I’ve talked about this perspective before. I think it’s because after many years in amateur sport, I’m not interested in the pressure to perform. I’m here in sport because I enjoy the experience. Instead of pressure – insert pleasure. When you’re out there enjoying yourself the results seem to come along with you.
Ok, enough waxing all philosophical like. My pre-race prep went well. I drove up Saturday morning. I was going to drive up by myself and do this race weekend thing totally solo but Torbin took pity on me and helped with the driving. Thanks for the support, Love. I had the weirdest taper ever for this race, with a work trip taking me to Colorado 2 weeks out, and a busy work week pre-race that included a 3hr bike ride to Deep Cove on Friday. Yup, the bike ride was for work. Awesome, eh! Probably not the smartest idea for a pre-race taper… but I decided that I’m not that serious about racing so why should I cancel on fun things, just because of an “A” race. Jeez, Louise.
to be continued…
check back later as I do plan to finish this post later today Second half of this race report will have to wait. I got distracted by, well, life.
Torbin and I drove up to Oliver on Saturday (or should I say Torb did most of the driving). We left real early in the morning so we were actually in Summerland by noon. I dropped Torbin off at my Aunt/Uncle’s place and then headed to Oliver for the pre-race prep. I arrived in Oliver, enjoyed some solo focused time visualizing for the race, got all my gear prepared, and did a little test bike ride. I was finished with all the pre-race stuff nice and early so headed to the lake for some quiet time. Quiet confident time before your A-race is a good idea – where you think, “Cool, everything’s done, I’m ready!” I like some time away from the hub bub and nervous energy that often surrounds these events. While hanging out on the beach, I had a nice visit with Jim and then met with the South Delta/SAA group for a very choppy swim. After the swim, I enjoyed some more visiting, went to the pre-race meeting, and then headed home to Summerland.