Open Water Swim Video

This morning's swim was pretty exciting - choppy water, some decent waves, a stiff wind.... the water looked angry!

6 of us headed out:

Mick, Elspeth, Marty, Rod, Deb and myself.

At my insistence, Deb brought her Olympus "Tough" which is waterproof. I used it to capture this video which gives you an idea of the conditions...

If any of you are shopping for my Christmas present already, the Olympus Tough would look good under the tree ;)

Tomorrow is the Vancouver Triathlon - I will be down at the Tri BC VIP tent taking in the festivities. If you are in the neighbourhood stop by and say 'hello!'

Best of luck to all Innovative Fitness (and otherwise) racers.

Cheers!

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Sleeping in a van @ Kelowna Apple - My Way

I write to you from the Starbucks on Pandosy in Kelowna, BC....  

Have you ever fantasized about traveling to races, sleeping in a van, waking with the sun, swimming, biking, etc.  The life of a transient triathlete with little or no concerns?  No?  Guess that's only me...

Anyway, I am sleeping in my van - which works really well if you find a good spot where there are no drunken teenagers to freak you out at 3 in the morning.  I found a great spot last night in front of some really nice looking condos.  Condos are perfect because nobody feels like they "own" the curb where I park.  Neighbourhoods with houses are nice but people keep an eye out and are suspicious of people sleeping in vans (go figure).

There is lots of space in the van, even with my bike and other gear in the "bedroom"...  in fact I feel a lot closer to my bike than ever before after sharing a bed.  When she shifts clumsily I think I'll be a little less likely to swear at her after last night....  or, when she flats, like today during the pre-ride of the course, I am more likely to cut her some slack.  

Sleeping and training are the easy parts, hanging out is the challenge (i.e. where do you go to chill out?)  Fortunately, Canadian Starbucks have recently caught up to the rest of the world and are now providing free internet (even if it is only for 2 hours).  So that's where I am now...  

This morning the lake took care of my "shower" (and a pre-race swim tune-up).  All other personal hygiene needs (shaving, tooth brushing etc.) have been taken care of in very acceptable public washrooms.  It may not be glamourous but I enjoy it - makes me feel young again - like 23 or 24 - except all the 20-ish people I know here are staying in hotels or with friends.  Maybe nobody does this anymore?  Or ever did?

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting Kelowna, I can tell you that it lies approx. 3.5 - 4 hours east of Vancouver in the scenic Okanagan Valley, not far from Penticton (home of Ironman Canada.)  That very same 3.5 hour drive took Vince and I about 6hrs yesterday....  The traffic on the highway was inexplicably, tremendously terrible.  Oh well....

Tomorrow I will compete in the Triathlon National Championship.  I love the course here in Kelowna and it should be a lot of fun even if I am not in the greatest shape of my life.  I think I am 100% after the injury earlier in the summer but I will find out for sure tomorrow.  Either way it will be great to hit the water in a race...

Good luck in the race to my training partners in Kelowna today:  Chelsea, Ashley, Darren.  Not to mention Cindy Krampl from Innovative Fitness, who I saw in transition today - it's her first Olympic Distance race tomorrow - she looked pumped!

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Speed Syndicate Takes 3rd Place!

Team Speed Syndicate - 3rd Place - left to right: MJ, Jeremy, Justine

Race Highlights...

Start:  Hop, hop, hop, hop, flop - swim.  That's how a beach start goes when you have one leg.  Then you work for 150-200metres to pass everyone that beat you to the water.

Sighting:  Paddleboarders had yellow shirts.  Swim buoys were yellow.  Got confusing for a minute but got it sorted sooner than many around me.

End of Lap 1:  Swim till fingers touch...  get up on one leg - hop/wobble through water, around the beach buoy, back in and swim.  Heart rate goes WAY up - hopping in sand = hard work.  See Caroline Greenwood and exchange a nice midswim "Hey!"

Lap 2:  Smooth.  Caroline swam the entire second lap about 4 ft off my starboard/stern.  Very polite, never drafting.  

Swim Exit:  Approaching the end I started to hope Caroline might help me out of the water and up to my crutches.  Sure enough, as soon as we hit land she popped up and said, "Do you want a hand?"  I grabbed a shoulder and hopped up to the crutches with her help.  Thanked her and told her to get going...  THAT is going to be a lot of good karma for her.  THANKS CAROLINE!!!

Time:  34:56 - a couple minutes slower than anticipated... speaking with everyone after it was a common theme - maybe there was a current, or the course was longer than 1.9km...  whatever.  Anyway, I was 6/18 in the relays and would have placed 56/212 in the overall.  Not bad with all the hopping around and whatnot....  I'll take it.

Transition:  The crutches were a STUPID decision.  I thought I could crutch up the beach faster than putting on my leg and running.  Uh... no.  Not on tired arms, uphill, deep sand...  it was a b!&#$.  Oh well, at least I tried it and know for next time.

The rest of the race:  I didn't trouble my teammates for race reports but I can tell you they both performed admirably.  Jeremy on the bike and Justine running us to a podium position (3rd).

All in all I have to say relays are pretty fun - the camaraderie of competing with a team is different from the normal triathlon experience.  I think more people should take advantage of the relay option as a way to get involved in the sport...  or to still enjoy the competition with an injury (like I did...)

Congrats to everyone who raced!  Lots had great performances out there.

Thanks to Jeremy and Justine - the Speed Syndicate will have to reunite one day!

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Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron - Photos

Here are the photos I took at the Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron event yesterday.  CLICK ON THE LOGO BELOW.

I highly recommend this event, the Lifesport team does a great job and the atmosphere at their events is second to none.

The photos I took are mostly of friends:  Justine, Jeremy, James, Kevin, Bree, Josh, Kate, Stephanie, Susie, and Vince

Lots of podium shots:  Not quite all of them as I missed the first couple...

Some pros:  at the finish line and giving interviews....

Some random:  There were a few others in there as well.... 

There were plenty of friends racing that I didn't manage to capture on camera....  congrats to you too!

As always, HELP YOURSELF, leave me a comment if you want to thank me!

Congrats everyone!

My race report coming soon....

Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron

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Five Good Things

Things are coming around over here....

1.  My leg seems to be improving.  I don't want to jinx it but it looks and feels marginally better.  All that remains will be to see if it can handle any exertion.  I will be investigating that soon enough...  needs a few more days to be certain I'm not jumping in too soon.

2.  I have a race on the horizon!  It's not a full race (because that would be REALLY stupid just as my leg is healing) - it's a relay.  I will be swimming for a team in the Vancouver 1/2 Iron.  I haven't met my team yet but a friend is hooking me up with a cyclist and a runner.

This is a really good thing for me....  it was a bitter disappointment to have to bail on Road and Track Nationals (cycling) especially after bailing on Escape from Alcatraz to prepare for Road and Track Nationals.  I know that injuries are part of sports but that sequence of events really sucked.

Anyway, back to the race...  it'll be Sunday, and I am going out on a limb and predicting a fast swim out of myself.  I have been swimming more than ever (as I have been reporting ad nauseum here) so it ought to be fun.

3.  The Tour is about to get crazy!  The prologue in Monaco was super cool and today's stage looked boring on paper but ended setting a very interesting stage for tomorrow's Team Time Trial.  Those Astana boys really must be having a blast at team dinners and hanging out on the bus as they basically try to beat the crap out of each other.

(Al)Bert(o) saying "WTF Lance?"

Cancellara said he "took it easy" on the hill in the first half of the prologue (TT), so he'd have legs for the second half....  that seemed like a good plan, as he destroyed everyone else.  

4.  Swimming and "sort of" training has been awesome!  

We are having record turnouts to the B.B. swims since Canada Day.  So much so I got all excited and created a tab on the right hand column that leads to a page I put together with info for people coming out....  you can see that HERE.

Coming up with workouts that don't put any impact or exertion on my leg is a challenge...  but it is definitely one the coaches at IF are up to.  On Friday Justine and Dylan had the kayaks ready to go....  The sun was beating down and it was great to hit the water!

 

That's me.  Photo credit:  Justine before she capsized...

Justine - in the midst of capsizing...

Justine - demonstrating impeccable paddleboarding technique...

Dylan and Justine soaking up the rays...

5.  Last but not least....  The kids and Sacha are all enjoying the summer now that school is out.  Life is good when the sun shines!

Driving his big brother's car...  nice shoulder check....

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Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron Triathlon Photos

[Photo link at bottom of post.... if you find one of yourself please take it - just leave me a note in the comments... Thanks!]

Sunday was the Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron.

If you are going to slap a grand title like that on a race it better be good - and this one is awesome!

Although the race was by no means large (around 300 competitors in the 1/2, Oly, and Sprint) it is star-studded (simon whitfield, brent mcmahon, jasper blake, katya meyers, lisa mensink), well organized, and in one of the most beautiful venues you can imagine.  I had to hand it to Lifesport - they have a great event - and kudos to my friend John Botelho who is the race director.

This event is pencilled into my race calendar for next year.

This year I was supporting my good buddy Kevin who was racing on his 307th birthday....  just kidding Kev....

Also, Vincent, who I met right here in the blogosphere...

And, Mark Shorter, who I know a little from the North Shore racing community...

Before I get ahead of myself.....  the trip started with a 10 minute ride to the ferry in Horseshoe Bay - rather uneventful except for the flat I got.  Of course I had NOTHING - no tube, no tire levers, no pump, no co2, zip, zilch.... all on my other bike.  Luckily I ran into a super nice couple that had everything - they patched my tire and I was good to go on the other side.  [Note:  Karma...  I always help people with flats - it's my policy.  When my turn came the first person I asked basically had every single thing I needed....  it was awesome.]

Upon exiting the ferry I promptly took a wrong turn and rode north for 5 minutes...  (no map either.)  Normally I am like a sea turtle (as my good friend Llorn always says) when it comes to direction - not this time.  After that issue was sorted, I settled in for a quick and highly enjoyable 55km on loooooong rollers south to Duncan where Kevin and I met for dinner.

Kevin had lined up a B&B called Shirley's Cozy Nest.  Fortunately the nest featured a cot for yours truly...  placed conveniently at the foot of Kevin's 200 sq.ft king size bed.  I fell asleep watching sweet triathlon movies from the 90's - that decade was tragic for triathlon style.

You really MUST click on this one to see it full size...

Anyway, I shouldn't turn this into a full report since I wasn't even racing...  my boys all did really well - Kevin PR'd, Vince rocked it and took 5th among the men, and Mark Shorter took 2nd in his age group.

I had a blast taking photos (and I am getting better!) but left VERY hungry for Escape from Alcatraz in a few weeks.  One can only do so much watching.

Here are a few more from Sunday:

Simon Whitfield did the 1/2 swim and the Olympic Swim/Bike...

Katya Meyers about 1km into the run...

Race Leader...  not sure who it was at this point...

A few minutes before the cannon....

Damn it LeBron... 

Here is a link to all my photos from Sunday:

Shawnigan Lake 1/2 Iron Triathlon

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North Shore Triathlon 2009

Event #1 - Kids 6-7 Relay

Mattias and his buddy Carter rocked this thing.  

SWIM:  Mattias was first out of the water - he took a few wallops on the head and got run into the side of the pool a couple of times but he distanced himself in the last 25m to emerge first out of the water.

BIKE:  Carter executed his mount and climbed up the initial hill almost all the way to the top without stopping...  very impressive for a 6 year old.  He returned having extended the lead, executed a perfect dismount and ran his bike through transition without a single issue.

RUN:  Mattias tore off to the legendary sound of Steve King's voice on the PA saying "Look at that young man climb the hill!"  A few minutes later he brought it home and even nailed my high-five over the fence as he sprinted down the finishing chute.

It was awesome!  Kevin and I were cheering like crazy and my camera sort of seized up...  I still have a few shots from others though. 

Mattias getting "rubbed out" against the wall...

Pulling even with a little backstroke...

And opening up for the finish....

Caulfeild Bombers - First Place Kids 6-7 Relay!  Carter (left) and Mattias (right).

Mattias was super stoked!

Event #2

After the excitement of Mattias' race it was time for me to try to calm down and race myself.  This proved to be a little difficult - I am used to just worrying about myself at a race and this time I was worrying about Mattias and all his stuff.  Like a complete scatterbrain I kept forgetting things - his crocs (at the pool), my goggles (in my bag), my towel (at his transition spot), pumping my tires (oh well), my timing chip (in my bag)...

SWIM:  All the farting around meant I started with a slower heat than I would normally have chosen.  By the time I fetched my goggles and got back into the pool I was with the 14 minute swimmers because the faster ones had gone off already (this swim is self-seeding).  In reality the "13-14s" are actually 15-17s.  Anyway, I laid down a super slow swim in high traffic - it's harder for me to be aggressive in a pool than in a lake - you just feel like that much more of an a$$hole when you swim on top of someone in a pool with 50 spectators 15ft away.  My swim was about 14:00 + 1 minute for hopping and putting on my leg.  

BIKE:  Four laps.  Small rollers, fast.  Lap 1 = out of sorts and feeling weak.  Laps 2, 3 and 4 felt pretty awesome.  My bike needs a few fit adjustments - the seat post needs to be cut, and a longer stem installed...  then I'll be rocking!  We didn't have time to do a proper fit for this race since I got the bike a couple of days ago.  If it didn't look so damn nice (and fast) I probably would have been smart and ridden my old bike.

RUN:  Felt really awful at the start and the end.  Middle was OK (and downhill...)  I have been doing almost no running so this isn't surprising.  I have to pick up the running or Escape from Alcatraz is going to be painful (and embarrassing).  My sole excuse (bad pun) is that I was also in fairly constant discomfort from this:

It took all of about 5 minutes of running to start forming.  I have had this blister about 4 dozen times...  It's almost a tradition.  Anyway, it's mildly annoying when your prosthesis becomes your "good leg".

RESULT:  I placed 11/31 in my AG.  I was particularly pleased with my bike which was 4/31.  Since I have been working pretty much solely on the bike this was somewhat validating.

In the end I was a couple minutes faster than last year but felt comparatively dissatisfied with my race this time around.  Don't get me wrong - I don't expect to run fast in a race without running in training but it still sucks to huff and puff, lumbering around a 5km course.

In non-me news, there was a strong Innovative Fitness contingent at the race - as usual.  Check out Kate motoring past the competition in what might be the best action photo I have ever taken:

Game face on.  Kate was hauling...

Team Innovative:  Kate Perry, Sasha Myers, Guy Demong, MJ, Ashley Perry

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Tomorrow We Race!

In this case "we" means Mattias and I....

Tomorrow is the North Shore Spring Triathlon.  Just like last year, my participation will be overshadowed by a first-timer - this time it's my own son!

This is really an absolutely perfect race for a beginner, and I may try to bring one triathlon rookie every year!

- pool swim (750m)

- flat, simple bike (20km)

- fun run on part trails, part road, couple of small hills (5km)

- great community atmosphere

This year Mattias is doing the 6-7 year-old's relay with his buddy Carter.  Mattias will swim and run, leaving the cycling to Carter.  The distances are 50m swim, 1.5 km bike, 500m run.

Today Kevin and I held a transition practice: mounts, dismounts, running with the bikes, tagging, racking bikes, putting on helmets and ripping them off etc.  If you've ever watched a kids tri - this is where the carnage takes place (and the race is won or lost.)  More important than competitiveness is that our sons do not perpetuate the myth reality that triathletes are known for disastrously poor bike handling.  We want our kids to be part of the solution not the problem!

Kevin with his students...

Carter with the day's best "flying dismount"...

Mattias dutifully dismounting PRIOR to the dismount line...

Unfortunately I have a bit more confidence in these guys than myself tomorrow.  I am breaking the "nothing new on race day" rule in a major way:

- New bike (friday)

- New water bottle position (put it between the aerobars - a few hours ago)

Hopefully nothing disastrous will happen...

Here is my new ride courtesy of Specialized and the the Bike Gallery HUGE THANK YOU to both!

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