One highlight of today included a sunset ride off River Road made possible by daylight savings. Taking home $50 in prize money for a second place overall in the UBC duathlon was also pretty cool. It cost me $57 to enter so I’m $7 in the hole. [chuckle] I think I might have eaten $7 of peanut butter bagels. Maybe… Actually, I’m glad that I made the decision to participate in the UBC duathlon today. I enjoyed my interactions with friends, clubmates, colleagues, and fellow racers today. I say participate here because I’m not supposed to be racing. I’ve got a bit of an injury and my instructions from physiotherapist are keep the running to less than 5km**. So the race plan for today, er I mean the idea, was to take it easy on the run, hammer the bike and then jog or walk or quit or something. I admit, I hadn’t really thought past the bike. I compromised on the rules and went easy on the runs (23:08) and (23:09) and hammered the bike (40:38). My new TT bike is fast and fun and the motor was working well today – good enough for 7th fastest bike split overall. Mission accomplished. I got off the bike feeling pretty good and was pretty sure that I had passed most if not all the ladies so I just kept going. My injury was no problem today but I do have a very very tight back (which may be stemming from the injury or the lowered bike seat or something). I’m not sure exactly what story I’ll tell to my physio on Tuesday. I could try, “Aliens made me do it.” I may have tried that excuse before. I guess I could go with the truth, I just like racing the UBC Duathlon.
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My new personal best for a half marathon is: 1:37:54.8

Good enough for 5th place lady (33rd) overall!  My good friend Eric came up from Seattle to race and he broke his 2hr goal by 4min!  Our race prep included watching this “Science is not Enough” panel, going to bed before 9pm and eating good food.  Yes, we embrace our geekiness.

Racing yesterday at the Kelowna Apple was good fun.  It’s pretty cool to race in the same events with folks like Simon Whitfield (who repeated his national championship) and 1200 triathletes from across Canada.  The event is really well organized and I just clued into why there where bins of Apples everywhere.  It’s the Kelowna Apple, duh!  I had a good laugh at myself when I “got it.”  My goal was to try for a top-ten finish and I was a wee-bit off that spot for worlds but I was still happy with how the race went yesterday.

I had set myself a goal of 2h35 for an earlier race in the season, called the Peach.  Yes, I’m having a fruit inspired season.  I was 2h38 at the Peach, so I still had that 2h35 goal in my head.  I finished at 2h34 yesterday and it felt good to beat that goal.  I know this goal is conservative in terms of my abilities but it felt pretty good for where I’m at right now. Continue reading →

I really like swimming in oceans, lakes, and rivers. I like outdoor pools too, but oceans and lakes – they take the cake! This morning, I rode my bike down to the ocean to swim the Kits Challenge. 1.5km in 24:40 this morning has me thinking about some of my favorite swims ever. I swam once in the Indian Ocean.  It was glorious.

I jumped off an iceberg once into a lake called Lake Lovely Water. That was COLD!! I like it when you swim over the sandbar at Boundary Bay and the crabs give you their best ninja impressions. I love swimming in the Caribbean Ocean because you can float forever and snorkel as you go. As a kid, Lost Lake, Lightening Lakes, and Deer Lake were some of my favorite swimming holes.  As an adult, I’m grateful for every time I discover new and beautiful locations for swimming outdoors.

The swim at the Peach was crazy blender of arms legs and a full on kick in the face but I was calm – and apparently kind of slow. Sigh.

This bike was fun. I’m feeling strong on the bike right now. This route is a tough hilly route and I was riding without any bike computer so I kind of got into the racing – which made it fun. At one point, I realized I was forgetting to eat. So I sat up, had a little break, drank some water, and ate some gels. Once that was over, I actually had the TV announcer going in my head “… and now back to our regular scheduled programming.” The rest of the ride was spent catching the next rider on the road. I was happy with where I placed myself off the swim/bike.  But, I almost seriously bit it on the bike dismount.  I changed my mind about the shoeless dismount at the last minute – and my legs weren’t ready for this last minute change. Fortunately, I stayed upright but I think I scared some poor volunteer as I stopped mid cartwheel right in front of her. I guess more practicing on the dismount is in order.

The run was tough and I didn’t really go very hard.  Even though it wasn’t really hot, I was too hot. I should have worn my visor not the hat.  I liked cheering for all the people I knew in the race. Overall, I was pretty happy with my finish. It wasn’t as fast as I was hoping for but I can see that my goals are within sight.

swim 29:06
bike 1:17:26, avg speed of 31kph
run 50:34
2:39:26