Sean on his last lap

Martha eyes the finish line

Sean and Katie all done

Try this triathlon

On the weekend we saw Try this triathlon at the university. Trevor once again put on a great race and it was great to see sp many triathletes (many newbies) trying their 1st ever race. the weather was brisk in the morning at zero degrees. Brrr. The big question was what to wear. Luckily no rain or snow. :)

We saw katie finish her 1st ever triathlon with a very sore foot. It was hard to watch her run as I knew every step was hurting her. She slowed down her pace enough to finish the race and believe it or not won her age group. Congrats Katie, when your ankle heals you will be flying at your next race.

Sean was also at this race. He was also completing his 1st ever race. Sean looked great from start to finsih and was happy that the sun came out and warmed up the day when it was his turn to race.

Martha was all smiles today for her 1st race of the year. The cold weather did not deter her. One more step on your way to Kelowna!

Rob was also on the course today and he was running the race with his good friend who was completing his 1st ever race. That is a great thing for a friend to do.

Watching the race from the sideline was very cool as it took me back in time to my first tri and the old pool swims. Lots of nerves and excietement running around the pool.

Until next race!

Canmore 12 Km

Congrats to Marj who completed the womens only Canmore 12 Km on the weekend. the course was challenging 2 lap course with mud, sand, rocks, snow & some paved paths. Marj did a great job finishing 397 out of 870 women. Nice running Marj!

Ken's U of A race repot

My First Tri
The nerves started the night before. As I gathered my gear, I realized this was no longer just a simple run where you grabbed your shoes and a water bottle and headed out the door. Thank goodness for Todd’s checklist. It helped me get organized and enabled me to get some sleep the night before, confident that I had not forgotten anything.
I arrived sharply the next morning at 6:15 when the transition area opened up. Glad I arrived early. It gave me time to get my bearings before the big “rush” of athletes arrived at 6:30. There were a lot of extremely expensive looking bikes around. This intimidated me. Felt a little out of my league. All of the expensive bikes seemed to be on the racks closest to the exit of the transition area. I avoided this area. Went to the rear of the transition area where I saw a few mountain bikes racked. Figured these people were tri newbies as well. I’d be right at home.
The swim went well. When registering for the race, I told them it would take be about 20 minutes to complete the swim. It retrospect this was too slow. I ended up lapping all of the other swimmers in my lane twice. Had to slow down frequently, as the lanes were narrow and hard to pass other swimmers. Managed to get kicked in the face during my swim. Somebody’s heal hit me squarely in the right goggle. Sucked it right into my eye socket. I felt this was my “christening” as a tri-athlete. Could not help but chuckle. I exited the pool at 15:27. 52nd place out of 135.
The transition to the bike did not go as smooth as I wanted. Found my jersey hard to put on over my damp body. After wiggling around, for what seemed like minutes, I managed to get it on. I calmed down and got all of my other gear on and headed out for the ride. Thought the bike went well. Managed to pass a lot of other riders. Was glad Todd told me to practice the course the day before. The practice gave me confidence on heading down Groat Road (a relatively steep hill) and then digging in to head up Emily Murphy Hill (another steep hill). Finished the ride in 41st place in a total time of 43:51.
The transition to the run went a lot better than the first transition. Got my shoes on and took off. Felt really good. Thought my legs would have been hurting more from the bike. Was really strong all the way to the turnaround point. I put my sights the runner ahead of me and was determined to pass him. He must of known, because he took off. Could not catch up to him. As hard as I tried, my legs would not go any faster. Finished the run in 22:50 which was good for 26th place.
Overall, I finished in 35th place out of 135 competitors, and 4th place in my division (19 total in my division). Was really proud of this result. Normally I place right in the middle of the pack. The training schedule Todd has me on for the past few months is really working. Thank you Todd!
Let the training continue. Bring on Great White North!

U of A sprint

Congrats to Ken who completed his 1st ever triathlon at the U of A last weekend. Ken finished 4th in his agae group. Nice Job Ken!! Welcome to the club.

Boston Update

It is now official. Boston marathon had some trouble with Sue's time but she now has an official finish time of 3:48 which is quick enough for 8th in her Age Group. Nice job Sue!!!

Eugene Marathon

Congrats to Carrie who took place in the Eugene Marathon last weekend!

This was Carrie's 1st marathon in 10 years. The marathon was a stepping stone race en route to IMC. Overall Carrie had a great day (3:47) and just missed qualifing for Boston by 2 mins. Great job Carrie!!

Another Medal

I just completed the olympic distance course at Wildflower over the weekend. I was supposed to do the half IM but catching a cold mid week altered my plans. As most know I am training for IM france in 8 weeks and this camp was my kick start to training with the half as a great training day. My body had other plans. I was OK with my decision to switch races as I have never done the Olympic distance before and I really like the distance. I can always easily wrap my head around the distance and know that the pain is very tempory and short lived. My swim was good. A bit choppy in the beginning but I had clear water right from the start. There were a lot of waves of swimmers in front of me and I had too keep my wits about me so that I did not swim over anyone. Near the half way mark I saw 2 swimmers and one looked to be in trouble so I slowed down and had a good look. What was happening was here was a disabled man along with an aid helping him through the water. Everything looked OK they were just slow. After watching this immediately all my pain went away and then I could feel a nice gentle push from the lake carrying me back to shore. What a great way to finish the swim. My time was 25 mins. Only 2 mins slower than Shane so this was great. Once on shore I quickly removed my wetsuit and headed toward T1. This year I am swimming in a new Swordfish wetsuit and it feels very comfortable and comes off super easy. Love it! Once in T1 I get to have fun. Lets see how fast I can get through. I really love this part of the race. Controlled speed. I was in and out quite fast and then immediately had to climb a crazy steep / long hill. The week of training in the camp really helped me on this and I was flying past many other riders. More fun!
Once on the main course I pushed hard on the bike and tried to make up for lost time on the swim. You see Shane started 15 mins ahead of me and I was joking the night before about how I was going to try and catch him. I had a lot of work to do as 15min + 2 mins lost in the lake = 17 mins. I have changed my aero position a lot this year and I also have a new bike. This was my 1st race on my new Ceepo Venom and I was curious to see what would happen. Well the bike performed great and I finished the ride in 1:11. I did not see Shane on the course. I was too focused on staying upright on the descents. :). Once in T2 I had more fun. Another quick exit and I was on the run. Near the start of the race the No Limits crew were cheering me on and Myron yelled...Shane is only 6 mins ahead...you got him... Well I did not know about that, but I gave it a good try. My pace felt good and I did not stop once throughout the run. I kept looking for the blue and white jersey and everytime I thought I saw him it turned out to be someone else. I crossed the finish line strong and then I saw Shane on the other side. he was already done. My time 2:20. Shanes time = 2:29. Even with the fastest run split in my Age Group (yes 40-44)I could not catch him. Myron lied when he knew Shane was 10 mins up, not 6. But I will tell you what. That motivated me to run fast and I loved it. I finished strong and so happy to get that medal. Back in August I never got the IMC medal and I now realize that just because you are planning to race does not mean you will cross the line. I was grateful for the day, for the volunteers, my fellow campers and for everthing. What a brilliant day and then to share it with Shane at the finish was great. This was supposed to be a short entry but I got carried away and now it is off to bed. Thanks for reading. IM France in 8 weeks. :)

Myron's Wildflower Race report

During the last couple of months, I have been training hard for Ironman
France. I have met many of the training goals I set for myself. My
functional threshold on the bike has increased significantly; my weight is down under 170 pounds; my swimming speed is starting to come back. I have been mostly quite consistent with my training and, during the last month have averaged over 16 hours a week. Overall, things have gone
quite well and I am looking forward to Ironman France.

Two issues have been causing me concern. Since I ran a 10 km race last month, I have been struggling with some achilles tendonitis, which has impacted my running. Everytime I try to ramp up the volume or intensity of my runs, my achilles get inflamed and I spend a few days limping and icing my tendons before I can run again. Secondly, the delayed spring has limited my outside riding and I have had minimal opportunities to test my riding off the trainer since my bike crash last September.

This past week, I headed down to California for a training camp led by my coach, Todd Malcolm. The plan was to train hard for a week and then race in the world famous Wildflower Half Ironman race. My main objective was to get lots of hill riding, some good volume of training and to experience the Wildflower race. I also wanted to make sure I didn't thrash my achilles for the race in France, which is my main goal this season.

The day before we left, I decided to connect with some friends for a 2.5
hour bike ride. I had put my race wheels on the night before and when
I went to leave for my ride, I had a flat. 15 minutes of mucking around made me late for meeting the group, so I left in a mad rush and hammered up the hill to the top of Bow Trail. I went tearing down the hill at top speed and then turned to head down the hill to Edworthy Park. I continued racing down the hill to meet the group and as I came around a corner going 65 km / hour, a deer jumped out of the bushes and stood on the road in front of me. I had a fraction of a second to decide what to do and, since it didn't move, I slammed on the brakes. The deer hopped away, but my back tire starting sliding out and I went into a mad wobble as I struggled to avoid a crash. I was barely able to avoid a nasty wipeout, that would have surely resulted in a second broken collarbone (or worse). I arrived at my bike ride a bit frazzled.

I left the next day for California and connected with Todd's group. We spent the afternoon in LA picking up a few pieces of triathlon gear and then spent the night in Paso Robles. On Monday, we picked up some groceries and got set up at our house in Oak Shores, near Lake Nacimiento. The setting was idyllic, other than the complete lack of cell phone / internet connection (I know, this may sound great, but it was not what I had planned as I had a few fires burning at work). We spent the afternoon cycling, swimming and going for a brief BRICK run. I cut the run short, since my achilles was very sore. Our house was at the bottom of three big hills, which we had to ride up to get out to the road. It was great to ride outside and ride hills in the nice Californian weather. I felt amazing on the bike and chewed up the hills.
I was, however, quite tentative on the descents.

The next day was a bit rainy and windy. We went for a swim in the lake and then set out to ride the 90 km Wildflower bike course. While I still felt good on the hills, the wind and wet roads made the descents treacherous. I had Zipp 808 race wheels on my bike, which are quite deep and caused my bike to be blown around by the wind. Everytime I got above 50 kms / hour, the bike would start to wobble and I had to hit the brakes on wet roads. I was still freaked out from my near crash with the deer and found this ride rather sketchy on the descents.

We did more swimming, biking and running on Wednesday. Hill repeats on the bike at the race course got the legs going. I felt amazing in the swim and bike and decided to test out my achilles for an 11km tempo run.
The run went well and I was able to finish strong in a sub 4:00 / km pace. Unfortunately, my achilles flared up almost immediately afterwards and I spent the next day limping in pain. We swam and cycled again Thursday, but I skipped the run, as I was starting to think about the race on Saturday. My legs were getting quite fatigued from the week of training and I decided to skip the ride Friday to recharge the batteries and give myself a shot at a good race.

In the evenings we did sessions on changing tires, mental training, race planning, etc. The group was fantastic - lots of fun banter and storytelling, everyone pitching in with meals and a laid back atmosphere.

I reviewed the results from the race during the last couple of years and wrote up my race plan for Saturday, which was perhaps a bit ambitious given the intense week of training. Despite my tired legs, I figured I would try to race with the leaders in my age group and shoot for a top 10 finish (out of about 260 competitors). On this difficult course, I figured it would take a time of about 4:55 hours. However, I made two key caveats: (i) this was a training race for France and mental toughness / smart decisions were more important than the result; (ii) if I felt acute pain in my Achilles, I promised myself that I would drop out on the run rather than trash my achilles right before my final build up to France.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling rested and confident. We made our way down to the transition area and got set up for the race. The venue was amazing - lots of friendly young volunteers; a well organized check in and tons of support. The day was stunning - 72 degrees farenheit, clear blue skies and no wind. We listened to the US National anthem and watched the start of the elite race.

The start was organized in waves based on your age group, with a wave leaving every five minutes. There were two waves of 40-44 year old men and I was in the first wave. I lined up front and centre and hit the water running. There was a bit of thrashing at the start and I caught an elbow in the head that half knocked off my goggles. I kept swimming and was able to do a quick fix on the fly. Within 150 metres, I was out front with two other swimmers. I settled into a comfortable pace and was enjoying the race. We quickly caught the slow swimmers from the wave that started in front of us and I had to pick my way through the pack. I lost sight of the two other swimmers from my wave that I was swimming with and wasn't sure if I had passed them or not. I finished the 1900 metre swim in about 28 mins (right on pace with my goal). and was at the
front of my wave.

My transition was a bit slow, but I got on the bike and tried to settle into a comfortable pace during the first mile before I hit the long, steep climb up from the lake. I felt a bit tight in the legs on the first part of the climb but quickly warmed up and steadily worked my way up through the pack of riders on the hill. Once up top, I settled into an aero position and continued passing people.

I clipped along at a decent pace and began knocking off the miles. My tentativeness on the descents was gone today and I hit 70-75 km / hour going down the bigger hills. Only three people passed me (all of whom were in the 40-44 age group) and I repassed two of them on the Nasty Grade Hill. I hit the transition area in 3:16 total time(including the swim and transition), which meant a 1:38-1:40 half marathon would get me to my goal and perhaps a top 5 finish. There were only three bikes in our section of the transition area, so I figured I was in a good position in the race (although I had no idea how fast people in the second wave had gone). When I hopped off my bike, I immediately felt my right achilles seize up and I knew that the run was not going to happen for me today. I put on my shoes anyways and walked / jogged out to the people from our group who weren't racing today. I felt like I had lots of energy for the run and spent a few minutes thinking about whether to push through the pain in my tendons. Logic prevailed and I sat down and sulked for a few minutes. The competitor in me found it agonizing to drop out, even though I knew it was the right decision. I tried my best to enjoy the rest of the day but was quite upset by the way things ended.

Looking at the bright side of things, I had a fantastic week of training and proved to myself that my fitness and training is on track for my goal race at Ironman France. I enjoyed the company of the group and found the whole Wildflower event to be great. Over the course of the week, I was able to regain my confidence on the descents. Despite racing on tired legs after a hard training camp week, I was able to race the first two legs with the leaders in my age group (and, in fact, a top 5 age group (out of 260) and a top 50 overall (out of 2600) was within my grasp with even a half decent run). Nonetheless, I can't help feeling frustrated by having to drop out and missing the chance to finish the
race strong. I am motivated to do the necessary rehab work on my
achilles so I can get back running as quickly as possible.

Eight weeks until Ironman France.......

Ian's Boston Race Report

On Monday I was fortunate to be able to run in the 114th Boston Marathon. I would first like to thank Todd for getting me there. Not just for guiding me through my workouts but also for providing me the right advice for dealing with a nagging injury which I thought might prevent me from racing.

The weekend was rainy and cool but I woke up early Monday morning to clear skies. The Boston Marathon actually starts in the little village of Hopkinton so a shuttle service is provided to get to the race start. The race starts at 10:00 am but the first round of shuttle buses got us there at approximately 7:00 am. Three hours to wait and rookie mistake number one. I didn't bring enough warm clothes or a plastic bag to sit on so I shivered in the athletes village for 2 1/2 hours. Second rookie mistake. At 9:15 I prepared to go for a warm-up run but just as I was about to leave they announced over the PA system that the first 8,000 runners should proceed to the start line. Foolishly I went instead of going for my warm-up. We stood in the holding pens until just before 10:00. Then, two fighter jets flew by, the national anthem was played and the sound of a gun. We were off, sort off. Three minutes later my corral shuffled to the start line and we were truly off. This was my first big running race and it was truly a sea of humanity as far as the eye could see. The pace starts off frustratingly slow but by five kilometres you can start to achieve your desired pace. During the first few kilometres I was able to make use of the slow pace and high five the little kids that line the course.

By ten or twelve kilometres I knew I was in for a long and painful race. My lack of warm-up and the downhills were starting to make my quads cramp. I was expecting this but not for another 20 kilometres. Wellesley College is near the 20 kilometre mark and is famous. A sign stating "Get Ready to Plug Your Ears" says it all. The teenage girls lining the street scream and everyone's pace seems to quicken. As you get closer to Boston the crowds thicken and get louder. Newton with the famous Heartbreak Hill is a wall of people screaming you up the hill. Coming down the hill and the last 12 kilometres was about as agonizing as it gets for me, each step a shot of pain with my calfs, hamstrings and quads all threatening to seize up. By this point the spectators don't seem to cheer but scream at you urging you on as though you are their best friend about to win the race, despite being a mid-pack runner from the other side of the continent. Amazing! The last few kilometres felt like survival mode. I couldn't stop in front of thousands of people, the better runners were passing in droves while others around me were finally breaking and slowing to a walk or stopping. It seemed like chaos. By this time I was on auto pilot and only vaguely aware of the other runners and crowds. Around the final corner, last straight stretch and then... done!

After the race I thought about what gives one race a certain mystique while another is "just a marathon" or "just a triathlon". Boston is after all just another road race. Certainly very scenic and much harder than my Kelowna qualifier, but just a race. The need to qualify, like Kona in the triathlon world is part of it, as well as the elite field. But I would have to say it is the spectators, the energy and the sheer number of them help make this event so special. Everyone we met in Boston was polite, friendly and helpful. Great ambassadors for their city and country. I would highly recommend this race to anyone who is interested in long distance running. After the race I said I would never do it again but two days later I'm trying to decide which year to do it again.

Boston 2010

Boston is over and here are the results. It was great fun wathing on line.

Ian finished his 1st Boston in 3:10
Elaine finished another Boston is 3:38 (Happy)
Sue had a very hard finish with cramping legs but held on for 3:48

Very inspiriing and I am dreaming of Boston 2011 for me. :)

Calgary Tower climb

Congrats to Katie for being the 2nd lady to the top of the Calgary tower during the climb and run for wilderness. Katie was 2nd to Syl Corbett by 28 sec. Katie noted that the climb was harder than she thought it would be.... :)

Boston marathon!

Good luck to all those competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday!

A special good luck out to Sue, Elaine, Ian, Neroli, Kyle and Rob.

Enjoy it!

Todd's Icebreaker 10 Km race report

IceBreaker 10 Km race report – Todd

Well the icebreaker 10 Km has come and gone. This is always a great test to see where your run fitness is at. We were lucky with the weather. No snow or ice. Good running surface. I arrived sort of early (by my standards) 30 mins and I immediately had to find the nearest washroom. One of those things. After I went for my warmup but ran into Rose, Madi and Mariano. They wished me luck and Mariano asked if I was nervous as he has never seen me look like this before a race. I thought about this and said yes I am a bit nervous. I guess because this was my 1st race since my DNF at IM Canada and there was a small part of me that was questioning myself. I find the beginning and end of race very interesting and I always note what others (including myself) say. Things like….What time do you hope to run….Oh I missed so and so run so therefore….well I won’t hit this time because…..This is all too normal for the racing crowd and I tried to minimize this sort of talk and stay positive as much as possible.

My target for the day: 38 – 39 mins.

In brief: I started the race (as I have recommended to most) at a controlled pace and not too fast. When I came to the 1st Km mark in ~3:40 I knew I had to slow down. No problem, refocus. My HR monitor strap slipped off. No problem, pull it down. Concentrate on good breathing, cadence, armswing, press the slip on my watch. Check the time at 5 Km = 19:30. Good time and pace. There are lots of runners ahead of me. No worries I feel OK…stay strong. Look at the leaders as they pace. #1 looks great huge lead. Jordan is looking strong in top 3. Franks looks very good and focused in 4th, Rose is running well. After the turnaround I start looking at the runners behind and I wave at those I know, sorry about missing others. Pace felt good and able to maintain focus. With 1 Km to go I decide to slightly increase my pace and try to catch the runner in front. It worked and I was able to run strong to the finish line in sub 39 min. Goal met! 26th overall and 5th in Age group.

Tim had a good race and went sub 44 in 43:59.
Kelly placed in her age group 3rd with a 45:55
Mike was very happy to run today and finish in 48:18
Naomi (BHC) finished in 43:29
Mariano (tri-it) showed that training is overrated with a 48:54
Richelle (tri-it) finished in 49:06
Rose (tri-it) finished in 51:27.

Fun day to race and so great to see the familiar smiles and faces of runners from the past. Until next Icebreaker!

Tim's IceBreaker 10 Km race report

I did the Icebreaker 10K yesterday and it went pretty well. I hadn't raced since last July and hadn't run a 10K in two years, so I was a bit apprehensive, but not nervous. I was looking to beat my age (44). Todd told me to take it easy for a kilometre or so and then settle into a strong pace. The gun went off, I started my IPod and away I went.

My first kilometre was 4:35 which was probably a bit too slow, but I wasn't to worked up about it. My next few kilometres were ten seconds or so faster (even going up the %^*^% hill). At the 5K mark I decided that I had better pick up the pace a bit if I was going to get to my time. This started to feel hard now as my pace was up to about 4:15 per kilometre. Because I started slow, I still wasn't going to make it without a big push in the last mile. At the mile sign I was 37:15. Yikes. I debated in my head for about ten seconds as to whether I horked up a lung to get under 44, or started to cruise. In the end I figured "what the heck!" and took off.

Across the 4th Street bridge I thought I was going to die -- but I didn't. Some lady in a bike wasn't looking where she was going; had no clue a race was on apparently; and turned right into a group of runners. At the last second she hit the brakes and we swerved by. That gave me just the right spike of adrenaline to make the turn onto Elbow Drive. But now I was at 42:45 and had to get all the way to that little green house. "Screw it" I said and sprinted as hard as I could. As I crossed the line I really felt like breakfast was about to be re-enacted, but I held on. Some guy tried to jump ahead of me in the shoot (rookie!), but I reclaimed my spot.

At the end of the run: 43:59!! That little debate in my head tuned out to be the right choice. I would have been disappointed to come in 44:15 or something.

I am going to have to do a few more of these so I can get better at them in time for Budapest.

Tuner Valley Triathlon (Canada Day)

What better way to spend Canada then with a triathlon! :)

Dawn is putting on a race in Turner valley and the proceeds go to the outdoor pool for upgrades. Last year was a great success!

http://www.turnervalleytriathlon.ca/

Happy St Pats Day!!!

St Pats 10 Km races were last weekend and we had a few racers out. The weather prooved to be good and Mary finally broke her bad luck of racing in poor weather.

The 1st 10 Km was held around the university and we had Myron leading the charge coming home in 38:09, followed by Mike in 48:09, then Sue in 48:37, and Mary in 50:38.

At the downtown race we had Katie doing us all proud and running to a very strong finish of 40:50. This was good enough for 4th overall and 1st overall woman. Unfortunatelty due to a timing strap issue Katie did not recieve a time. Too bad about being official but definitey a great run.

This was the 1st of many races for lots of Calgarians and we are all looking forward to the next race. Kevin has Hamilton 30 Km coming up soon, and then some of us will be back at the Icebreaker for another 10 Km.

The weather has been amazing recently and please be careful if you are going out for bike rides. Take a few minutes to check out your bike and ensure that it is in good shape. Also bring some spare tubes with you as there is a lot of gravel on the roads.

Happy training and Happy St Pats Day!!!

Shane's Splash and Sprint (Sask) race report

750m Swim:
(The water was colder than I have ever felt a pool was and it was great.)
I felt great during the swim. At first I was nervous as usual but I calmed myself down over the 1st 100m and then I focused on trying to get into a groove and push. The first half of the swim, I calmed myself down and then started to push the pace. Within the first 200m, I was at least 15 to 20s down on the guy in front of me (we started at 10s intervals). When I would reach the flags going into the wall, he was already past the flags coming out of the wall. The people in front of him were even farther, approximately 50m in front of me. I quickly forgot about it and worried about the task at hand and just doing what I can do. And then approximately the half way mark of the swim I realized that I was catching the people in front of me. (which motivated me.) And so I pushed and pushed some more and caught them with 125m to go. (During the catching portion of the swim, I felt like I was flying and nothing was hurting to terribly much.) At the end of the swim I felt like I could have continued at that pace for much longer. When I caught the lead group (three people) I decided there was not enough room to pass and just settled in. I came out of the water in 10:59 (~1:28 pace).

5K Run:

The run was a lot of fun as well and when I entered the track soon after the swim I felt great and there was some what of a spring in my step. I decided to take the first 5 laps (1km) controlled and make sure my calf did not act up or hurt. My 1st km was in 4:24 and it felt good. I did not think I was going that fast but I decided to try and hold pace for the next km. The whole time during the run I thought of good thoughts and told myself that I was feeling great. And if negative thoughts crept in I quickly replaced them with good ones. I was very mentally prepared for this and I felt great because of it. The 2nd km time was 4:33 and I thought great I have held pace and I do not feel like I am totally out of control. I then focused on the next km and before I knew it I was done 15 laps and 3K and this km was 4:25. I then decided that I only had ten laps remaining and I will try and push the pace a little bit here. I think one of the laps I could feel myself letting the demons in, so I thought of good thoughts and refocused. The 4th km then went by and my time was 4:26. So, with 5 laps remaining I decided I really wanted to pick it up in the end and push to the finish. With 3 laps to go I started to run behind this girl that just passed me and I said I am going to stay with her for this lap and then try and push a little harder for the next lap. Suddenly I had 2 laps left and I told myself you need to go, now. At the bell lap, I put it into high gear and blew by this girl and everyone else on the track and pushed through to the finish. I finished with the last km in 4:12 and the 5K in 22:00.

It was a very good race and with the limited amount of speed I have done I am very proud in where I finished. Total time: 34:37. It was a great day to be me!!!

I was on fire for the rest of the night.

Tri it is having a sale

Banff Triathlon

The banff triathlon is open for registration and is filling up quick. If this interests you please visit:

www.triseries.ca/banff/

Looks like a great race!

Hypothermic half

Congrats to Mike who set a goal for the half and beat it. Mike's goal was 1:45 and he finished in 1:44. Nice job Mike. Great weather for Feb.

Melissas road race registration

I have never done this race but hear it is amazing.

Online registration starts on Feb 24 and is exclusively through the running room.

www.melissasroadrace.ca

Olympics 2010

The 2010 Olympic games are on!

Go Canada Go!!!!

Hypothermic Half this weekend

Good luck to Mike who is competing at the Hypothermix Half this weekend. I do not think the race will live up to its name though. The forecast looks good.

Calgary police half almost full

Latest News - February 1st, 2010
2000 entries have been received for the Half Marathon, the event is expected to sell out in the next 48 hours. Only 500 spots left, register now!

A new baby!

Congrats to Isabelle and Tom who are the proud parents of Sebastien.

He was born on Oct 25, 7 pounds 14 ounces.

Mom and baby are doing great and Isabelle has her sights on the Oliver Half triathlon.

Congrats again Isabelle and Tom!

Take 6 mins and view this for inspiration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=9xwCG0Ey2Mg

Video swim class Feb 28

I am once again putting on The Finer Details of front crawl on Feb 28. This is a great chance to brush up on front crawl technique and see yourself on underwatervideo. The class will not be put on again until next October or November.

Email Todd to register.

Icebreaker 10 Km registration

Glencoe Icebreaker

This year's Icebreaker 10K is Sunday, April 11. Entry forms will be accepted in person for non-Glencoe members starting Monday, January 18. This race fills very quickly, don't delay! Download entry form

Note: Package pickup will be April 9th and 10th at The Tech Shop's new location - 2424 - 4th St S.W.

Thank You from Tri-It

Tri-It would very much like to thank all the No Limits athletes that turned out to last weekends Spin a thon in support of Jordan and Jannelle. Looking forward to the next fundraiser!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010!!!

Wow!

I hope everyone has their best year yet!

Happy New Year.

Calgary police half marathon registration info

The entry form for the Calgary Police Half-Marathon is now available in the Register section of the site. The first 600 entries will be accepted. On-Line registration will open on January 30th, 2010.

http://www.calgarypolicehalf.ca/

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

Take care this holiday season and remember that Chocolate is good for you. At least this is what I tell myself . :)

Enjoy your family and friends during this special time of the year.

Myron goes sub 3 in California!

I just finished the California International Marathon in 2:57:19. My previous best time was 3:16:30, so I am ecstatic with this result.After my fiery bike crash at the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in September, I took a couple of weeks off training to nurse my broken collarbone and spend some time thinking about my athletic goals. I gradually began running and cycling again and tried to start rehab on my shoulder.Unfortunately, my. collarbone has not healed well. The bone is displaced and is not "fusing", so I have not been able to swim or put any weight on it. I am heading back to the orthopaedic surgeon on Dec.21 and, if nothing has changed, will likely get a plate and pins put in to have it fixed properly.The surgeon did give me the ok to run, which doesn't seem to bother it too much. As a result, I decided to focus on that in order to keep a base of fitness in the lead up to Ironman France.The last eight weeks, the running and cycling has gone well. I averaged about 10-12 hours per week of training, mainly geared towards running but also incorporating more core work, leg weights and plyometrics. I am getting a much better feel for my training zones and threshholds. I did lots of interval work, tempo runs and hills, and gradually ramped my long runs up to a maximum distance of 39 kms. Surprisingly, I had few aches, pains or injuries. The last two weeks I did a good taper, reducing volume but maintaining intensity.This past week, I was feeling quite confident about the race. I felt healthy and strong. On Friday, a big storm hit Calgary and many flights got cancelled. I phoned the airline to check on my Saturday morning flight and, sure enough, it was cancelled. Two hours on hold and I was told that there was no way I could get to Sacramento until Sunday evening. I spent another two hours looking for alternate flights, with no luck. The airline suggested I come by the airport early Saturday and try to get on a standby flight.So, after three hours sleep, I got up at 3 am and made my way to the airport, arriving at 4:30 am. The first few flights were cancelled but I eventually got on a 9:15 am flight to LA. Upon arrival, I high tailed it to the other terminal, stood in line for 90 mins and then ran to the gate, arriving 20 seconds before they called my name for a standby seat. Had I not been there, the seat would have been given to others waiting. I was extremely fortunate to make it to Sacramento for the race.I had a nice spaghetti dinner and fell asleep at 8 pm. For a night owl, this was something. I slept like a rock and woke up at 3:45 am to get dressed, eat and catch the 5 am bus to the race start. It was quite cold for Sacramento (about 5 degrees celcius?). I lined up with the 3 hour pace runner and got ready for the day.The gun went off at 7 am and we took off. The announcer said there were 12000 people in the race. The first two miles were crowded as many "rookies" went faster than they should have. Eventually, things spread out a bit. I immediately felt great and the pace felt very comfortable. I tried to stick behind the 3 hour pacer but it was crowded, so I decided to move ahead of them. Once past this group, the runners thinned out. I got stuck for a while beside some guy wheezing and hooting as if he was going to keel over. I decided to leave him behind and moved up to a group of three runners and tucked in behind them.The first 10 miles seemed to go quickly and I felt amazingly strong. I was holding about a 6:41 per mile pace, putting about 10 seconds per mile "in the bank" ahead of my pace. I hit the halfway mark in 1:27:28, about 90 seconds faster than my race plan. I was a bit worried that I had gone out too fast, but I was feeling great and decided to go with it.Shortly after the half, we turned onto another road and straight into a decent head wind. This made the pace a bit harder to hold. I spotted a group of five people about 200 metres ahead and picked up the pace to bridge the gap. I tucked in for a "draft" and and ran with this group for about 5 miles, taking turns cutting the wind. Eventually, we turned into a more sheltered area and spread out.For the last ten miles, I dedicated each mile to someone special. This gave me something to focus on. I kept expecting to run out of gas, but I was holding about a 6:45 pace and still feeling pretty good. I had to dig down to hold on for the last four miles, but at this stage, I knew I was going to make my goal and was getting excited.We made the final turn and I finished strong, crossing the line in 2:57:19. When I did this race two years ago, I remember thinking as I crossed the line in 3:16:30 that I should enjoy this because it was likely the fastest I would ever run this. Who knew? I am very proud of this result and happy to join the sub-3 hour marathon "club".Thanks to everyone for your support and words of encouragement.

Triathlon Club Night at Tri -It

No limits athletes lets see if we can come together for Triathlon Club night at Tri-It on Dec 11 from 5 - 7pm. Details are below:

Come socialize, shop and enjoy the evening festivities that include drinks, appetizers, a visit from Santa, draws and give-a-ways. All athletes attending will receive 20% off all regular priced merchandise - including... compression, wetsuits, bike trainers, apparel, nutrition, accessories, and all Zoot shoes.We will also have apparel from 30 - 50% off, Zoot 2010 samples for sale, 50% off selected bike accessories and tools, 40% off selected running socks, 50% off Merrell running shoes, and 40% off Zoot sandles.The club with the most attendees each night will receive a special gift for their coach.

California Intl Marathon

Good Luck to Myron this weekend in Sacramento!

Last Brick class for Shane!

This photo was taken last weekend at Shane's last brick class. Shane is moving to Sask to work for the University. We will all miss Shane, especially the his followers from the floor on Saturday's brick class and his fellow Lane 1 and 2 swimmates.

Shane we wish you the best of luck and hope you find everything you need in Sask. You have been a core component of No Limits for many years and you will be missed. Go Riders!!! :)

Lordy Lordy look who's ....... 39 ??

That's right folks. One more year until I make the big milestone.

Although many of you thought today was the big 40. Thanks for all the warm wishes and preparing me for the big day next year. :)

Katie at the Run without Borders 10 Km - 1st Female

Jingle Bell and Last chance half

Congrats to all who braved the strong winds on Sunday to compete in the Jingle Bell 10 Km and the Last Chance half marathon! At least no snow :)

Run without Borders 10 Km

Congrats to Katie for having a great 10 Km at the run without borders. The day was perfect to set a new PB and come in 1st overall for the women and 3rd overall. Katie's time was 43:06. Nice work Katie!!!

Cyclocross Prov champs

Congrats to Kevin for continuing to try new things and finishing 5th in the mens Master B Class (40-49) last weekend at the Cross Prov champs! That sounds like a fun new way of racing.

Finer Details of Front Crawl (Video Class)

It is that time of year again to refresh your swim stroke.

There is no better way than to learn all the finer details of front crawl and then actually see what you are doing through video analysis (under and above water).

The class is set to take place on Nov 22.

Lecture start time 10:30am.
Video Taping starts at 2:30 pm.

Cost = $157 or $189 (includes slow motion analysis)

Please email me for more info or questions coacht@telus.net

Kerf Music presents

Hello my friends
I'm attaching the poster for the upcoming KerfMusic Presents....This is the first of hopefully a long line of monthly KerfMusic showcases at the Ironwood, giving us the opportunity to show off the wonderful musicians we are so lucky to have on Kerf.
So far these are scheduled for the third Thursday of each month...so mark your calendars for Nov 19 and Dec 17 too!
For this first one, its Cam Penner with special guest Kaley Kinjo - both fabulous musicians who will put on great shows. Its a night you won't want to miss - and, given that its a work night, the music will start at 8!
You can check out what they sound like by linking to their pages on Kerf below - you can listen to 2 full songs for each album on the site...and these guys are awesome!!
http://www.kerfmusic.com/336campenner
http://www.kerfmusic.com/275kaleykinjo
Hope to see you there
and don't forget to call the Ironwood to book your table - 403-269-5581 (the food's great if you want to go for dinner too!) cheers Peg

Marathons

Congrats to Ian and Rob who took on the Kelowna Marathon last weekend.

Ian ran a 3:09 and Rob ran a 3:17.

Elaine took on the Victoria marathan and finished in 3:36.

Nice running everyone!!!!



Welcome to winter and the snow. I hear COP opens this weekend. Get the skis shined up. :)

New Triathlete born last night

Paityn Howey was born at 8:57 last night. Marcie and Paityn are doing very well.

John is one proud Papa!


Congratulations and welcome to the club!

calgary 70.3 is now open for registration

http://www.ironmancalgary.com/

John's IM Canada report

As I crossed the finish line at Ironman for a second time one year later, I realized how different my experience was this year vs. last. My finish line this year was not about realizing that I was truly capable of giving 100%. It was about reminding myself that as a person I was capable of playing a bigger game in life.

A friend who inspires me sent me a message early this spring and he said it best:

“Racing at Ironman isn't about facing limits or boundaries as I had once thought; but rather about simply going on, taking the next step, and never giving up in the present. It's not about winning. For all its imagery, Ironman is about simply about choosing life. Choosing what will define us, and what our story will be”.

Happily, this year at Ironman Canada I did not need medical treatment. Despite training for only 12 weeks I had improved my time since last year by 2hr and 15mins.

Ironman is a long day… A 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run. Throughout the race I was never alone! I had my list, the list of people that inspire me through their actions and accomplishments. Some of these people on my list were at the race, cheering me on. Just making eye contact with them sent electricity through my muscles and allowed me to push harder and go faster. Some of the people on my list were at home and when I needed them they were called upon in my mind.

One young girl, whom I had never met, (n’or do I know her name) inspired me beyond belief on the run. The sun was going down and people were walking and running at a snails pace. It was a very hot day and a forest fire had brought in a good amount of smoke. During the run I was negotiating with my mind on when I’d run and walk and I was losing the negotiation. I pulled up to an aid station and waited until I heard a young girl offer “Pepsi”, as I looked over to her I immediately noticed this young girl was in a wheelchair. She had a huge smile on her face and was enthusiastically handing out the best beverage on the course. This young girl not only inspired me, but she reminded me of a lifeline of strong women whom I am connected to. It was incredibly humbling and inspiring at the same time. In short, I never walked again for the rest of the race. The last 100 meters of the course I passed four people because I ran harder and faster. Looking at a picture of me crossing the finish line makes me laugh. I finished my race so strong because I was so inspired!

Completing Ironman Canada 2009 with a better time than the year prior was my goal. I look at goals as finish lines; in life we are all running our own race. The finish line at Ironman represents a race that I was running that started 12 weeks earlier.

What I learned crossing this finish line was:

Everyone is capable of playing a bigger game in life. Anything is possible if you surround yourself with people that inspire you, encourage you and hold you accountable towards your finish line.

Melissa's road race

Congrats to Kevin and Kyle who completed Melissa's 22 Km run on the weekend.

Kyle was 6th overall and 3in Age group with a time of 1:30.
Kevin was 64 overall and 12 in Age group with a time of 1:44.

Nice job guys!!!

For those of you who have never done this me (like me) I hear that it is an amazing race, but it does fill up fast.

Next year's race will take place on September 25, 2010. Online registration will be available in February 2010.Exact date to be advised.
http://www.melissasroadrace.ca/

Autism Run 10 Km

Congrats to Kyle who took 1st place at the Autism 10 Km run this past weekend.
39:15

Nice job for a guy still recoverying from IMC.
Next race is Melissa's

Brian Ricker's Road to IronMan

Road to Ironman:
My Race – My story
I had a great race day I finished within 17 hours (13:55) healthy and loved every minute of the race. I had a great support group – thank-you Lorna and Steve – who went to every corner of the race course to encourage me along.
Swim – 1:16
Bike – 7:04
Run – 5:14
Truly, IMC was one of the most memorable days of my life however it was the year leading up to that special day in August I will always remember. I have met some of the most wonderful people (athletes) and have some great memories that will last a lifetime. Swim classes, Saturday morning bike rides, lake swims and race days.
In the spring of 2008, inspired by Dave& Darryl Tainsh and Mike Gorman to take on the Ironman challenge – thanks guys I am very thankful for your motivation.
August 2008, I drove from Kelowna to Penticton to watch and cheer on Mike and Dave at IMC. The day was one of the most inspirational and emotional events I had ever seen, watching athletes push their bodies to the highest limits. That night, while driving back to Kelowna, I decided to drive back to Penticton the next morning and register for IMC 2009. After the 2 hour wait in line and hearing all the stories of the different Triathlons, I didn’t even know the difference between a Sprint distance, Olympic distance and Half Ironman I still hadn’t figured out the distance of an Ironman. Before leaving Penticton I was introduced by Dave to Todd Malcolm, a triathlon coach, I didn’t think I needed one of those however hiring a coach was one of the most important pieces to me successfully completing IMC.
My background:
- Never swam 25 meters
- Never ran further than 10km’s
- Never road more than 5km’s (mountain bike)
What was I thinking!?
Well, I hired a coach (Todd Malcolm) started swimming 3 days a week, trained on a trainer during the fall and winter at Talisman and ran indoors and outdoors throughout the winter.
After meeting with Todd, I give him a lot of credit, and reviewing my lack of experience in triathlon racing we put together a plan. I would run a ½ Marathon, ½ Ironman and ultimately IMC.

What was Todd thinking!?

I made great progress in the pool continued 3 days a week up to race day. In April, I bought a road bike and started with these classes called brick classes every Saturday morning. In June, I ran HSBC Half Marathon – 1:50 and in July I raced in my first triathlon GWN – 6:04.
Training to the next level;

Well, after completing GWN, I realized it was time to step it up a notch. I had to improve my swimming, increase the length of my bike rides and run further than two hours.
I accomplished a lot of firsts in the two months leading to IMC:
In August I ran 25 km’s followed by 30km’s the next weekend. Increased my cycling from 3 hour rides to 6 hours and continued with long lake swims.

I had trained to the best of my ability all year, however I doubted myself days leading up to IMC – could I swim 3.8 km’s, could I ride 180km’s and could I run a marathon more importantly could I put it all together.
WOW what an overall experience! I hope to see you all on the pool deck, brick class or riding those long rides in the spring.

Thanks Todd and all those others for supporting me and believing in me along the way.


Your welcome Brian, you did an amazing job!!!

Great white North and Wasa open for registration

Note that 2 very popular races. GWN and Wasa are now open for registration.

They will fill.

A reminder of why we train :)

Myron's ITU world Championship race report

Unfortunately, my triathlon race ended after a wicked crash left me with a smashed bike and broken collarbone. A disappointing end to the season.After the aquathlon race on Wednesday, I started feeling gross with a dry cough and constricted chest. I saw the team doctor and found out I had bronchitis. I was feeling pretty bad about this, but was hoping a couple of days of rest would get me feeling good enough to race. When I woke up this morning for the race, I was still not 100% and had to fight off the negative thoughts. My hope was that the excitement of the race would get the adrenalin going and my training would kick in to allow me to have a good race. As recommended by the team coach, I had shaved down my whole body to feel extra speedy for the race - just like the pros. The transition area was huge, but well organized. We found out this morning that the temperature of the water was 20 degrees, so the race became wetsuit legal. I did a good run and swim warm up, but still felt a bit sluggish. We lined up for the start at 8:47, with about 150 men in my age group leaving in that wave. I was calm and ready to see what the day would bring. When the horn went off, I hit the water running and made it to first buoy towards the front of the pack. I tried to find a good person to draft off, but couldn't seem to find the right fit. The group spread out fairly quickly and I focused on keeping a long stroke and a positive attitude. I finished the 1500 m swim in about 21 mins - not my best swim, but good enough to keep me competitive. I think I was about 20th or so out of the water.My transition went well and I managed to do the running bike mount without mishap. I quickly settled into a 40 km / hour pace and 100 rpm cadence. About 5 mins in, I started feeling really strong and picked up the pace, passing several riders. By this point we were mixed in with the other waves of racers on a two lap course and the riding was fairly congested. It was frustrating to see big groups of pelotons forming, in total disregard of the drafting rules. I tried to work my way past these pelotons as quickly as possible, staying to the outside to avoid problems. By this time, I was flying: 43-45 km / hour pace and moving my way up the ranks. I was on track to go under 1 hour on the bike leg, which would have been a great ride for me.Unfortunately, about 18 km into the ride, disaster struck. At a section where the road narrowed, a rider in front of me swerved to avoid a pylon, and two riders crashed right in front of me. I swerved to try to avoid them, hit a barrier and went flying shoulder first onto the road. There was a pile up of about 5 riders. I jumped up, pulled my bike out of the pile and tried to hop back on but the front handlebars were completely bent and the bike was not rideable. I then noticed a searing pain in my right shoulder. I first thought I had broken or dislocated my shoulder, but it became obvious that I had broken my collarbone. I got whisked off the course to the medical tent and spent the afternoon at the hospital getting x-rays, etc. There were at least 6 other racers there from several different bike crashes that had happened. Of course, I am bitterly disappointed. Despite feeling lousy from bronchitis, I was having a good race and feel like I could have placed well. I know that there many positives from this whole experience: (i) this goal motivated me all year and I got in the best shape I have been in during the last 20 years; (ii) I had a great season and achieved personal best times in the half marathon, half ironman and olympic triathlon distance races by huge margins; (iii) I had an amazing holiday with my family in Australia; (iv) I got to experience representing Canada at the World Championships; and (v) my body hair will grow back (I hope). Nonetheless, this was not the result I wanted and it will be a long flight home. I guess I get a forced rest from training for the next couple of weeks to let the collarbone heal. After that, it will be back to the drawing board to map out my plan for conquering Ironman France in June, 2010.

Myron

Brian is done the swim. :)

IMC swim start

Kyle's IronMan Canada Race Report

IMC 2009 race report
Going into the race I truly felt ready and strong. Felt confident and relaxed before the race and had a great week with my family before the race. Lots of beach time and Finn started swimming with his life jacket (25 years earlier then his father!).
The swim started great. I was relaxed, got my breathing under control and hooked on a steady draft for 25 min. A little rough at the turns but overall quite smooth. Finished in my goal time of 1:10.
Had a great transition and got out of there in 3 min- Goal #2 met.
Played my usual game of catchup on the bike and was steadily moving up the field. Staying in low zone 2, I was approaching 40 km/h average and was surprised to see you on the side of the road getting your flat taken care of. Nutrition was on track and was drinking over 2 bottles/hour of fluids. Climbed great up Richters and made lots of movement in my age group. The rollers were much easier then last year and I pushed hard through the out and back at Keremeos after realizing I was in the top 30 in my age group. It started getting hotter on the way to Yellow and I found this climb tougher then previous attempts. Stuck within the same group of riders until the end and punched it to the top trying to move further up my age group standings. Finished the ride hard into town for a time of 5:16. Goal #3 met.
Transition was quick in 2 minutes but I was feeling a little lightheaded and hot.
I left transition at 6h:30 total race time and paced a 3:25 marathon to get a sub 10 hour time. I started feeling rough at 2 km mark but was able to hold a 4:30 min/km pace for 7 km. Then the heat started to win. I was feeling worse and worse despite drinking more and more, eating more and more and slowing the pace. I dumped sponge after sponge and tons of water on me but couldn't cool down. By half way I had slowed to a 5:30 min/km pace with a time of 1:50 at the turn around. The second half got worse and I was forced to walk many stations and my pace continued to slow despite a heart rate in low zone 2. Finished with my family cheering at the 41 km mark in 3h:57. Fell asleep on the grass after dousing myself with tons of water- managed to stay out of the med tent this year.
I gave everything I had in a very tough year that saw lots of people quit including many pros. I suffered more then I ever had before finishing in 10:31 (45 min faster then last year) Ended up 30 min slower then my goal for the run and 20 min out of Kona spot. Despite this, I learned alot about "racing" an Ironman and was proud of my preparation.
Have since read a bunch of articles on heat acclimatization and am working on a plan. So if you see someone running around town in a parka, tuque and 4 pairs of sweat pants next week... Say "Hi" - It's me getting ready for the next 35 degree race I run.
Congrats to everyone who raced- I am so proud of our team! A sincere thank you to everyone who cheered and didn't get a response from me--- I apologize, I was in a bad place.
Thanks for the year Todd, anticlimactic end to an amazing journey.

Brian looking strong on the bike

Kevin working the run at IMC

Jackie is a little bit happy to be done! :)

Kyle on run at IMC

Kelly on Bike at IMC

Phoenix riding up Richter's Pass

Phoenix's IMC race report

Alright here goes my IMC 2009 Race Report
Pardon my poor grammer but it wasn't meant to be an english essay :-)

Going into the race this past weekend I had hoped to have a really good swim, hammer the bike and hold on for the run. I knew it was going to be hot, but thought I had factored in for the heat.
The swim was a gong show, I arrived prepared: I’d had a hard time eating any oatmeal at 5 in the morning so I just stuck with my Boost and sipped on some Carbo Pro. When the race started I positioned myself some what right of center, I hoped to be aggressive and find feet. The first bouy felt like the worse kickboxing match ever! People were just swimming all over the place, whacking each other etc, but I felt like I was working my technique and just trying to find faster feet. At one point some guy grabbed my waist and actually pulled me backwards! I know ridiculous, I was so flabbergasted, yet knew anger wouldn’t serve me well, so I just vowed to get back to horizontal and start swimming my butt off again.
As is probably pretty normal, I would find feet, then discover they weren’t fast enough then repeat. Coming around the house boat (rather sail boat this time) I was starting to deal with breathing problems similar to the ones I had at the 70.3. It feels like my throat gets covered in a film of phlegm so I can’t really get a good breathe in or out, and although I ignore it for as long as possible in time it wears me down and I can’t get any oxygen, I have to stop cough several times and then carry on. I’m wondering if I am dealing with allergies or something, because I was relentless in my diet by not taking in any dairy or bananas for weeks prior to the race, which has worked in the past. Any way after the second turn I think I got off course, I was starting to feel lonely and un-abused…when I finally looked up long enough to do more than just keep the orange buoy in sight I realized I was in fact swimming alone, and almost down the center of the course. Dang, it’s a love hate thing, you want to just swim but if you are alone you lose the draft advantage.
I came out of the swim, and was a little pissed at my time, for the effort it wasn’t what I wanted, although nearly 7 minutes faster than last year, so a small triumph.
In transition I ripped through no volunteers to help me because I came out in such a cluster…I was fine with that. Off on the bike. I was hoping for good things on this course as I have worked hard on my bike this year. The first 40 kms were ridiculous. I looked at my computer it was 1:15 it was great, then the climb out started. I don’t know why but I haven’t felt as strong on climbs this year as last, and part of me wanted to make the climbs easy so as to avoid the power drainage, however I was getting passed on the hills, and then having to pass the same people again on the flats. I found the bike course incredibly crowded and damn near impossible to stay out of peoples draft zones. Ricker’s came and went without any issue, however after that I found myself starting to look for the out and back, not because I needed the nutrition at special needs, but almost because I needed to get grounded again, I wasn’t in the moment like I had been the first 90 kms of the bike. At the special needs I missed my turn and just about took a spectator out, then by clip has moved and I couldn’t unclip, I almost fell off my bike trying to stop so a kid could run my special needs bag up to me. After that although I was happy to finish the out and back I was starting to fade. I knew I had lost a lot of my water from my aero drink but I think it was more than I thought. I had water bottles in special needs that I had never used before with my carbo pro in them, and unfortunately I had never used them before and they turned out to be horrific! I couldn’t get the liquid out of them without considerable effort, my aero bottle was just about falling off and I thought I was better off leaving the nutrition in bottles than risk losing it in the aero drink. Either way I was dying up yellow lake, I was so thankful to see some spectators and hear some music, I had dreaded yellow lake since the out and back, with no real reason too, as I wasn’t scared of the hill….just needed to get the bike portion over with. As you know yellow lake is the tough hill because of the timing of where it comes on the course. After that I just enjoyed descending; however with 25 kms or so to go I caught a head wind which I didn’t have the energy to fight. I knew my bike split goal was slipping away from me, but the tank was running empty.
Once back into transition I took my time, getting everything….even got the volunteer to fix my race belt, which was cinched really tight against my waist because apparently the last one to use it was my 6 year old….note to self get her, her own race belt.
I headed out onto the run…and it was immediately noticeable to me that it wasn’t going to be the consistent effort that I needed to keep up with last years time, at first I thought I would still do better because my bike and swim time was faster, but my strategy to walk only aid stations wasn’t working. The smoke from the bike portion might have played a factor but I didn't personally find the smoke from the fire that difficult. (until the following day). I was making it about a half mile and then walking for a couple of minutes and then going again. Any excuse…like a minor hill and I was happy to walk it. I took in water, and either chicken broth or pepsi at every aid, I even drank my carbo pro that I was carrying. I realize now that my nutrition called for four gels and I never took those in. I remember thinking to myself on the run course “I haven’t peed yet, that’s peculiar”, as normally I just run and pee. (turns out this is a sign of the dehydration I was experiencing but totally unaware of). My stomach held up well with the help of the Imodium I took (two doses) even when the runners around me were violently retching…oh the joys of ironman. Anyway, on the run back in I think I just started to work more on auto pilot…my friend auto pilot. Then this New Yorker started to talk to me, and was so red neck in the things he was saying, I actually slowed down so he could get ahead of me, but anyway the Skaha Lake gave me a beautiful sun set.
I had struggled not seeing my family this year, knowing they are at the race somewhere and not seeing them was killing me, I finally ran into them with a kilometer to go, and it was a relief, a little late but awesome, my daughter just about exploded with glee which was so amazing to me. I crossed the finish line….slower than last year which was hugely disappointing. I had hoped that if nothing else I could avoid the medical tent this year as that was the worse part of last years race. Albeit that was not to be my fate. The catcher walked me through the shoot, and then over to the photos, at first I felt good…thankful to be stopped actually, but then it hit. I knew what was coming so I told the catcher that I wasn’t feeling good and had fainted last year. She informed the medical tent…it’s all a blur after that really. I tried to go to the bathroom, but started coming in and out so thought it best to go into the tent. They tried to triage me, and make me sit, some guy kept telling me to keep my eyes open, apparently after I tossed the Gatorade they figured I was belligerent enough to be given a bed…jeeezzz what does a girl have to do around here to pass out in peace?
Anyway I was in and out of it for three hours. Poor David was told repeatedly that I was not in the tent when he came looking, I couldn’t dial his cell phone number despite the lovely volunteer having fetched it for me from my dry clothes bag. At midnight they told me if I couldn’t get up I had to go to the hospital. I was feeling better by then, after a saline drip some IV gravol and a snooze. They said they had never seen such a lack of veins (thank you! at least I win the award for most dehydrated). The lady who poked me had four guys watching what she was doing and I’m not kidding that they cheered when she found a vein. Lol Anyway, it was a hard day. I think I would have done better (at least David would have been much less stressed) had the medical part not happened. I am started to feel a little betrayed by my body…I gave it chicken stock for god sakes…warm chicken stock too…it was gross.
The next day the worse damage was the sheer lack of skin, chafing from the wetsuit and bike shorts, are the things that hurt the most, legs remarkably are fine. (probably because I didn't work them as hard on the run?)
It will be back to the drawing board after this. I plan on taking several months off and not doing anything remotely resembling swimming, biking, or running. :)

IronMan Canada 2009

Ironman Canada has come and gone. Just like that. A year of training for many is over and now they are wondering what to do next. I have been wondering that exact question. What is next? I have some ideas.....

Anyhow, back to IMC. The weather was quite warm, in the 30's. The swim was good for the No Limits crew with very little issues beside the odd kick to the body and the occasional swim over.
The bike was hot and windy, especially on the 2nd half of the course. This was a challenge for many riders. Especially for a Tri coach who flatted and then rode too hard and ran out of gas at the top of Yellow lake.
The run was hot and smokey from the nearby forest fires, but actually most people did not find this was a problem. The heat did force some slower run times.

Here are the results:
Kyle finished in 10:31 and 23 in Age group. He raced hard and pushed very strong to get through the run.
Rob, finished in 10:54 and was very happy to cross the finish line. He was please with his Swim and bike and knows he can run faster (next time).
Kevin finished in 11:06 and was happy to be back at IMC as it has been 10 years since he last raced.
Kelly and Tara both pulled off great runs in the heat to finish at 12:27. Nice work Ladies.
Rookie Jackie had a great day. Steady swim, good bike and solid run to finish in 12:36. Nice job for a rookie Jackie!!
Dawn finished in 12:55 and was very pleased with her result. She may have been even happier with finding out how much she enjoyed training for long course. :)
Phoenix was back for IMC #2 in a row. She was determine to PR no matter what. Phoenix had a great swim, the bike was good for most and then slowed a bit near the special needs and yellow lake. Nutrition / heat played a role in a tough marathon finsihing in 13:54. That was a very tough finsih Phoenix!
Rookie Brian was ready for the day. At least that is what everyone was telling him. It is hard to believe this until you actually cross the finish line. Eh Brian. Well he did cross the finish line and held his head high with a great finish of 13:55.
Rose was excited to be back at IMC as she know that she may never do this race again. Good swim, really good bike and then struggled a bit on the run. Lesson learned Oranges and Pepsi do not mix. :) or :( . Rose once again finished IMC in the exact same time as last time 14:26. Very consistent Rose. :)
John was also back for his 2nd attempt since last year. Last year he had a very tough day but he showed his true strength and finished in 16:45. This year was different! He finished very strong in 14:29!
Coach Todd had a good swim and then was having a good bike then flatted a tubular. After a 20 min change (with the sag wagon mechanic) followed by a very quick rebound pace I eventually ran out of gas near the top of Yellow Lake (150 Km). It was fun while it lasted and another great learning experience.

Congratulations to all of the Ironman racers and good luck to all those who were standing in line to have their chance to play on such a special day next year! It really is an amazing weekend!!

IronMan Canada - riding up Richters Pass

Apple Triathlon

Congrats to Sheldon who completed his 1st ever triathlon at the Apple sprint.

He was very please with his swim and bike splits beating the goals he set. He unfortunately had a slip in transition that put out his back and forced his run to much slower than expected. He finished in 1:29 and thoroughly enjoyed the race. Nice work Sheldon.

Shane was also racing. He was really looking forward to this day as it has been a while since he last raced while feeling fit. He finished in 2:22 and was 17th in his age group. Welcome back to racing Shane.

Xterra Alberta

Lynn and Louise took on a new challenge last weekend. Xterra!

The ladies had a great time and reccomend this race to anyone.

Louise finished in 2:24 (3rd in Age group) and Lynn finished in 2:55 (14th)

Great job Lynn and Louise!!

Xterra Race Report by Lynn

Xterra report (Sunday, August 23 - Canmore Nordic Centre)
This race was more fun than you can imagine and I totally loved it. I rode very slowly and conservative, but with more mountain bike experience I think I can go a bit faster downhill. The swim was warm and not congested at all as the females went out first followed by two other heats of males. The bike was two loops of nine kilometres each. The course was not technical, but a lot of climbing. The run was hilly made up of two loops, 3.5 k each loop. If anyone is looking to take a "step out of the box" this race may be of interest! It was sold out at 350 athletes and I imagine it will sell out next year as well.

Lynn at Xterra Alberta

Rob's new play

Rob is directing a play next weekend, and thought you might like to see it. The play is called "Dad's Piano" and Rob's brother Dave wrote it. It is being performed by an accomplished local actor, Christopher Hunt, and an accomplished local pianist, Jeffrey Neufeld. The play is running Thursday, Aug 20 through Saturday, Aug 22 and will be performed at the Motel Theatre, which is a small theatre in the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. It's a shorter play, lasting about 45 minutes, so there are several runs of the show each day. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door or via the play website. If you'd like more information, I'm attaching the play web address here.

www.dadspiano.com

Strathmore Triathlon

Strathmore results:

Tanya 4th overall
Peggy 80th and 13th in AG. (a 6 min PR)

Both Ladies were very happy with their race. Nice work!

Memories from October IMH

Bob passed these videos along to me that he took at Hawaii Ironman last year.

I remember passing him near the finish and all I could say was Whoop (or something like that). I was very very tired, but what a day!

The 2nd video is after I am done and I am waiting for Lyndsey to get her bike (I really can't remember). All I know is that I was super tired and the ground felt very nice. I did not have to run anymore which was awesome.

Hope you enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLTnlXMv_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za7RbQ3E4c0

Strathmore - Good Luck ladies

Good Luck to all the ladies competing in the Strathmore Triathlon this weekend!

Chaparral Triathlon

Last week was Lake Chaparral triathlons. Myron and Mario were challenging the olympic distance. This would be Myron's last race before heading off to Australia for the World champs. On the flip side, this was Mario's 1st ever triathlon.

Myron was close to the leaders during the swim and this helped set him up for a strong bike and run. He was 6th overall male and 1st in his Age group.

Mario enjoyed the whole experience and felt the swim was his strength today. One of the highlights of the day was crossing the line with his son. Welcome to the triathlon club Mario!

Good Luck to Myron in Australia! No worries Mate :)

Getting ready to start the swim at lake Chaparral

Myron on the bike

Mario on the bike

Myron has his sights on the finish line at Chaparral

Mario running well at Chaparral

Calgary 70.3

Last weekend was the 1st Calgary 70.3 Ironman event. You could not have asked for a nicer day. Beautiful!!! The winds were nonexistent for the bike and I even heard that some athletes even had a tail wind giving them great speeds. How good is that? The sun continued to shine on the run and the temperatures soared to ~30. Very hot to be a racer and spectator. No Limits athletes were out to test the course and had great experiences. Here are the results:

http://www.ironmancalgary.com/results.htm

Jenny finished in a time of 4:58 and 2nd in AgeGroup
Kevin D finished in a time of 4:58 and 12th in AgeGroup
Kevin W finished in a time of 5:07 and 21st in AgeGroup
Elaine finished in a time of 5:21 and 2nd in AgeGroup
Suzanne finished in a time of 5:31 and 9th in AgeGroup
Sue finished in a time of 6:15 and 1st in AgeGroup
Phoenix was using this race as a IMC training day and pulled out early in the run with a slightly sore knee.

Overall we had an excellent day and I am very proud of your efforts. Next races Chaparral, Strathmore and a little race known as IMC. :)

Jenny very happy at Calgary 70.3

Phoenix pushing strong on the bike

Suzanne enjoying the amazing day at 70.3

Sue very happy to be racing again

Elaine focused on the bike at 70.3

Kevin hammering on his Kevelo P4

Kevin on the bike at Calgary 70.3

Kevin having a great run at 70.3

Kevin feeling the heat at 70.3

Elaine high 5ing Lisa near the 17 Km mark

Sue looking very strong at 70.3

Saturday morning ride

Here we are on an amazing ride. Today we had no broken chains or flats. Only a small cut by barb wire. :)

Anyone have a bandaid? Jerry?

Oh and lots of hills.