Vancouver Half Ironman

Nice and early in the morning in the transition area. My friend Bob in his last race before the Ironman Canada race in Penticton. Bob and I ran our first marathon in grade 12, although there were some years of inactivity, we both have been doing lots of running and triathlons into our 40 somethings!!

The fun begins!!! I think I am still way in the back on the beach.

This race you had to come up on the beach and run around a pilon. My only chance to pass anyone seems as I am a better runner than swimmer.

Ok,, a race with a "no passing zone" !! Note the frustration on my face as I am told by the officials not to pass as the rider in front flosses his teeth. The next lap I made sure to take nutrition here as I wasted time, and the next lap got stung by a wasp. May as well get it done while you are coasting :) Actually it is a good idea for safety here not to pass as on the last lap there was a bike in the ditch on top of the rider with a guilty looking person looking on. I hope he was OK.

This run is the nicest ever. Running along the ocean on a nice path with gorgeous views. A few treed sections that are nice when you are in the shade.

I was a bit surprised that I was able to break the 5 hour mark, but I was very happy!! I actually only slept about 4 hours the night before, so I learned not to get uptight about a poor sleep.

Just a small part of the Bree Wee Fan Club. Bree http://breeweehawaii.blogspot.com/ was 2nd pro women behind her Lifesport team mate Magali http://magalitisseyre.blogspot.com/ . I met Bree at the Vancouver Half Ironman in 2008 and she has been a great inspiration.

The alarm went of at 4:15 am and after the race and some visiting with friends, my son and his fiance, a ferry ride (after I missed the one I was trying for) back to the Island I am home at 11pm with a bit of a mess to clean up the next day:) A good way to recover!!

Taper Time

Saturday morning run started and finished at the Logging Bridge with about 6 runners following hilly trails and some great views. Here Kevin and Steve are stretching after their sprint finish. I was happy to let the faster runners go ahead and watch the great entertainment!!

Into the Campbell River afterward for some recovery to the legs. There were people fishing just to the right of the photo, I am not sure they liked us scaring the fishes away??

After a swim at the lake on Sunday morning it was a flying leap onto the GURU and off to do some hill repeats. 17km into the ride is the the start of the 2km hill repeat,,,,,,

Ok,, now about 1 km up the hill,,, still not into the smallest gear yet. That is coming!!

Yup, I will keep to the right, so far I have never passed a vehicle going up this hill. Doubt I ever will, although I did see one Chevette struggling up the hill. I think it is the last one in existence?

OK, this is the steep part,, down the the smallest gear and cadence at 50. I did manage 60 on the 3rd rep just to try it. I like 50 better.

Almost there, a bit further and it levels out and I can spin my legs out,,,,,,,,

The hill levels out and I can see the turn around at the sign. 2km from the start at various steepness. A good place to take a gel I think :)

Ok, now the fun part. Trucks gear down,,, bikes gear up and "get aero" !!! 75km max for today, I wish there was a better tailwind, it is hard to get with a vehicle to draft here.

After swimming and biking and 2km run off the bike,,, oh ya, and some ice baths, it was time to make some of the famous Bree Wee Recovery Cookies. I love triathlon, I may not be great at it but I love it. Now, when it comes to the kitchen, well,,, no love there, and I am no good at all in the kitchen. I had to treat this project as an experiment. After clogging up the processor with dates I tried another method, or shall I say, another blade!!!

All mixed up, and ready for the oven, I think the experiment worked??

The finished product!!! Not as good as the Pro Bree Wee, makes, or Rocket Ricci, but I ate 2 of them awhile ago and am still alive. I think I may have to make another batch :)

Getting ready for Vancouver Half Ironman

When is it nice to get into a westuit and swim in a lake that is only 14.5c (58f)? Answer : when the air temperature is only 11c. A cool north wind has been blowing and made the water temperature feel warm. I am sure the ocean water in Vancouver will be colder, but last year it was Ok, so I am hoping for the same this year. I swam out and around the Island 3 times this morning and I guess the distance is 2500m. I need to use a gps and get and accurate measurement. Maybe this weekend??

Back home to get the GURU ready for the ride. Fluids ( I barely brought enough) , nutrition and shoes attached ready for a flying leap!!! My neighbours only gave me a 4 out of 10. It wasn't pretty but I did not end up on the ashphalt. So far my highest was an 8 out of 10. I think my neighbours think I am crazy. Why is a grown man in his "late" 40's doing such a silly thing. Listening to System of a Down and also Lady Gaga do not seem to make the norm either? I am glad I have great neighbours that understand why I go for a bike ride when the yard needs some TLC.

After my flying mount,,, and almost wipeout, I headed north first to get a bit of a hill in while I headed south. Heading south meant I had a tailwind for about 45 km!!! I love a tailwind.

The hill looks like it goes to the sky, but it is actually not that long or that steep. With the north wind I actually had to pedal fairly hard going down the hill on the other side.

Some nice scenery with a bit of snow on the mountains in the background.

Mount Washington, next right,,, I don't think so for today!!! This year is a year off,,, only a few Half Ironman races. Last year while I was training for Ironman Canada I would make the right turn and head up the mountain for some great hill training. Next year it is in the agenda also, but for now it feels good to cruise right past :)

Ok, just after the turn around at about 56km,,,, this means now I have 44 km of headwind. From what I can remember, the Vancouver race has a headwind in every direction so I try to embrace the wind and consider it good for training. Yes, my neighbours must be correct, I am crazy!! 44km in the aero position, no use sitting up and loosing speed. A lot of the ride back home was in the small chain ring, trying to keep the cadence up at 90rpm

The Vancouver Island Queen K!! Almost back to Campbell River now, heading north for 15km further then 180 turn and head back up the first hill at about 100k into the ride. Then mostly flat with the tailwind now. High gear, high cadence, and high speed, well, for me high speed :)

Ahh, finally, home and an ice bath!! A recovery drink and some reading material. The lake was at 14.5c so guess what the bath started out at,,, yup, 14.5c. And if I add all the ice from the ice maker where will the temperature drop to. Try 9.5c (50f)brr, a bit chilly, but it warmed up to 10!!! A few trips into the garage to spin on the GURU and then back to the ice bath. Three times total today and by then I really needed to get into a hot shower.

The GURU, in it's bedroom, resting for the next training ride before the Vancouver race. I guess I better get to bed and rest also :)

From Ultimate Camp to "Camp"bell River

Monica on Renaldo at spin class while others get ready and some model their bike shorts.

Mounted on the Guru ready to sweat it out in the afternoon.

Coach Paul from Lifesport (on left) before the class begins as we start our warm up in the 27C heat. We did some cadence drills, starting a low cadence, in a high gear working to a high cadence in a lower gear. Building cadence each time and then going for a 15 minute run with 5 pick ups.

In the morning Coach Lance Watson and Coach Lucy had us doing a great interval workout. I don't know how we had any energy left to spin!!

Friday morning at Thetis Lake. Perfect water temperature and a picture perfect place to swim. Full contact start practice, some with "us slower" swimmers in the front so the faster swimmers could swim over top of us. Kind of like being a pilon in the water!!!

Coach Paul came up with some fun drills and we did some drafting practice also.

Friday finished off with a 4 hour ride on the Peninsula, much of it on West Saanich Rd (after some Killer Hill Reps) then Coach Lance toured us through Sidney and back to the Lifesport Office.

Saturday on my way home, this is about 50km south of my home.

From Vancouver Island to Denman Island, you can see the ferry crossing. Denman Island Chocolates are awesome, even for us tri geeks.

Back to Campbell River,,, Ultimate Camp was great, now I am home and have to work on many things, wish I could remember them all. One important tip for me, is to keep my chin tucked in while swimming and kick better.

Home Sweet Home, the Guru outside the garage ready for a 46km ride :)

Shawnigan Lake Triathlon

Monica and her bike "Renaldo" arrive in Canada from Kona for some racing and triathlon training in Victoria.

Thanks Monica for letting me use your photos for the blog, I have not figured out how to take photos of myself yet.

Commonwealth Pool swim with Lifesport Masters.

ALOHA!!! Checking out the water at 7am the day before the Shawnigan Lake race to do some open water swimming and drills.

I did not feel so calm the race morning but it was nice to get a swim in the wetsuit,, I love the wetsuit!!

Monica's transition spot is set up for the next day.

My bike racked for transition. A nice spot near the end, easy to find, as on Sunday morning the transition area was busy and full!!

Ok, race morning, ready to go, lets start now before the others show up, I need any advantage I can get!!!

My start was at 7am and I took about 10 minutes off of my Half Ironman time from last year

Monica is more than ready to do her first international race in Canada .

She did the Olympic Distance race and bettered her Lavaman time by seven minutes!!

After the race it was time for some recovery to those aching muscles. Back into Shawnigan Lake to help reduce swelling and repair damaged tissue.

Not quite the Pier in Kona, no tropical fish, but a fun race and a great time!!!!

Ultimate Camp, Lactate Testing

Wednesday morning started off travelling to the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence where national caliber athletes train and go for testing. The day before we were there going through the recovery drills, ice bath, warm bath, ice bath, warm shower then spin on a cycle. We repeated this six times and had loads of fun as some trouble instigators sprayed cold water on others with bath toys!!!!

So Wednesday morning was going to be lots of fun also, we thought. Lisa Mensink an Olympic athlete was on the trainer being tested and then it was realized it would be very hard. Staff at the Institute as well as her coaches from Lifesport pushed and encouraged her as she pushed herself to the limit.



I was up after her and after a warm up, did three minute sessions that got harder each time until I could not keep up the cadence and faded.



Thanks again to Monica for letting me take photos of the Kona Gal for how we went through the session. Above she is set up and cruising.




At this point, the resistance is increasing as cadence is kept up.

This is the screen monitoring heart rates, watts, cadence etc

At the end you give it all you have, leaving nothing left.

Anyone up for trying some lactate testing!!!

Check out the video below !!!