Saturday, August 27, 2011

Gear Bags for IMC

Gear Bags for IMC

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thursday Bike before IMC 2011

Thursday Bike before IMC 2011

Thursday Swim before IMC

Thursday Swim before IMC

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Painted Toenails for Ironman Canada

Painted Toenails for Ironman Canada

Wednesday Before IMC

Monica's friend Patty was shy about being video taped and I joked that I would also add her phone number to the video.  It was a great day to swim!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tuesday before IMC

Tuesday

Monday before IMC

Monday before IMC

Last Saturday Group Ride before IMC

Last Saturday Group Ride before IMC

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Good Luck at the Apple (Nationals)

Good Luck to Louise, Carrie, Martha and Dean as they take on the Apple Olympic triathlon tomorrow!

Have a great race!!!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Newton is home from Down Under

Travelling Newton has just returned from his trip to Australia with Sue and Neroli.  They went down to compete in the Australian Outback half and full Marathon.  I am waiting for a brief race report from Sue to let you know how the trip went.  But, judging by the photos they had a brilliant trip!

Thanks to everyone for playing along with my Travelling Newton game.  This FUNraiser helped raise just over $5000 for Prostate Cancer.  When I first set this goal back in January I was quite nervous about reaching the goal but these feelings were just like siging up for Ironman or your first race.  And I knew I could do it with hard work and help from many people.

So thank you guys once again and look out for more great photos from Newton (follow on his facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/travellingnewton  to see the latest photo updates.

Newton's final destination is IronMan Canada 2011 in Penticton! :)


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Niantic Triathlon Race Report by Coach Mary

My husband Bob and I were visiting my family in Connecticut last week and decided to enter the local sprint race while there.  We packed an extra suitcase with the essentials and rented the only set of road bikes we could find.  The bikes had a second set of small brake levers on top of the handlebars which reminded me of tiny T-Rex arms.  I had not seen this before. They made me smile.
The day before the race we took a quick dip in the ocean to see if we would need wetsuits, drove the bike course and ran the run course.  We were ready.  It was the 11th year running for the Niantic Bay Triathlon.  About 500 people were registered.  I figured it would be well organized and well run and it was.
It was a dark and stormy night...and very rainy race day. Instead of body marking we were given "Tri-Tats" to self apply the night before.  Had not seen this before.  Worked well and looked nice.  Note: they are equally hard to remove as permanent marker.  At 7am, air temp was about 20 and water temp close to 22.  I did not wear my wetsuit.  About 75% of participants did.  When I asked people why they said “to protect their bodies from all the jellyfish".  Hmm.  The race director also had mentioned that there would be vinegar spray bottles available at the swim exit for stings.  I was hoping I wouldn't regret my decision.
The swim started on the beach at the water's edge in heats of about 125 people.  The swim was shortened due to ocean chop and swells from the wind and rain. Swimming out against the waves for about 300 meters to the first buoy felt like swimming in a wave pool.  1 second you were on top of a wave with good visibility and the next second in the trough seeing nothing.  On a positive note, jellyfish were not an issue.  At the furthest point from shore where the waves were the biggest I did breastroke up and over them because I was tired of breathing to the side and swallowing water.  Once we made the turn back to shore I swam hard with the waves pushing me forward.  It was like walking on a people mover- you felt like you were moving really fast.  I was a little worried about Bob in the heat behind me but he did fine.  He later mentioned that seeing so many surfboards and kayaks nearby in the water was somewhat comforting until half way through when he noticed that most of them had multiple racers hanging on to catch their breath and stop taking on water.   It was a short run to transition from the beach and I heard my parents cheering. (It was the first time for them seeing me race)
The bike was on secondary, paved, windy, heavily treed, shoulderless roads. You had to watch for frequent storm drains and rough patch jobs.  The bike course was not closed and compared to Calgary it was quite dark from all the roadside foliage and mature trees hanging over the roads.  Luckily there wasn't much traffic.  We were warned about a downhill section of recently paved road which might be especially slick from oil and rain.  I was extremely cautious here as I wasn't overly confident in my brakes and tires.  I got passed here by a pack of 4 women which was annoying but better to be safe than sorry.  I was only a few miles from the bike finish and I decided I would find them on the run.
 The run was an out and back that snaked its way through side streets and ended with a beach run. It was only 5k and my legs were feeling good after a relatively short and easy bike so I decided to see what I could do.  I had been feeling like I had been running well but the week before at the Calgary 70.3 I had really suffered through the run (heat and hills) and posted my slowest half marathon time ever so I was hoping for some redemption.  The rain was keeping me cool and being at sea level was favorable.  I found 2 of the ladies from the pack that had passed me on the bike and passed them early on.   I saw the 3rd women at the turnaround and passed her.  Then I saw Bob (who started in the wave 4 minutes after me) we high fived and I had renewed energy as I looked for that 4th woman.  I did not watch my pace but knew that I was running at a high heart rate.  I was pleased that I was able to run hard for the entire 5k and when I looked at my split at the finish it was 90 seconds faster than I have ever run a 5k in a triathlon.  I had a great race, finished 2nd in my age group and got my first ever prize pack.
One final comment, I always try to say something encouraging to anyone I pass while biking or running. In Canada, usually people say thanks or nod or acknowledge you in some way.  There was only 1 person the entire race that said something back.  On the run I said "stay strong" as I passed a woman and she mumbled "as you".  Nothing from anyone else.  This was supposed to be a friendly community sprint race.  I now believe that we really are nicer in Canada!  Although having said this, props to the race director that announced that all DNFs could race for half price next year.  Nice touch.









Coach Mary looking strong on the run

Coach Mary

Mary and Bob all done the Niantic Triathlon

Mary and Bob all done the Niantic Triathlon

Monday, August 15, 2011

Training Ride - 2 weeks out from IMC

Training Ride - 2 weeks out from IMC

Friday, August 05, 2011

Barb's Chestermere race

So pleased with my most recent sprint triathlon results. I have been brick training with Todd this spring. It has been great and I can see and feel the improvement. In chestermere I had a personal best in my swim and my run. Yey. 

I finished the Chestermere Sprint race in 1:44 - Swim 18:12, Bike 56:59 and Run 29:18.

I have been doing sprint tri's for 5yrs. I have progressed to lake swims since last summer. I had many "mental" issues to overcome with the lake swim though I am a strong swimmer. I look forward to seeing how Chapparel goes on sunday. I now have a road bike, so hope to improve my bike time!!

Good Luck Barb!  Kick butt. :)

Monday, August 01, 2011