Tuesday, August 30, 2005

ROC and Bastion Christmas Party

ROC & BASTION Christmas Party is tentatively booked for Saturday, November 19th. Lots more details will be forwarded once the Social Coordinators for ROC and Bastion have gotten together and waved their magic wands and created another fantastic event. Put the date on the Calendar now. Last years party was a blast.

I though is would send it separately to you so you can get it out to Bastion.

Have a great weekend.,

Dan

Volunteers needed for Harbour City Half

Dear Bastion

The Nanaimo Harbour Half Marathon is coming up on September 11 and they are looking for volunteers. This is not a Bastion sponsored race and there is no pressure to volunteer but if you like to watch some of the best and worst runners you're ever likely to see then I'll also point out that volunteers get to hit the food table which is always great and there is a volunteer appreciation party. You may have also noticed that many of our members have been busy training for this, especially Saturday mornings, and this would be a good opportunity to come out and laugh at them, I mean, cheer them on. Some things to amuse yourself if you volunteer are random drug searches or pointing runners the wrong way. If you have some time on Sunday, September 11 and you would like to volunteer, then you can contact James Williams jfwilly@shaw.ca

Thanks,
Ross

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #36

Trail Bits

It’s amazing,
the weather turns a little bit grey and everyone shows up for a run. Good turn out Saturday for a nice 90 minute run through Morell and part of the GutBuster. Hey,did you see where a guy just broke the World record for 10,000M – 26:17…unbelievable!

VOLUNTEERS – WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! As all of you know there has been a group of us working hard on this year’s Half Marathon for the better part of ten months now. Now that the race is coming close we need to ask all of you that aren’t racing to consider helping out. We are short of volunteers for the race and we need help in finding volunteers. If you or a friend or family member can spare some time on the morning of the race please contact James Williams, who is coordinating the course marshals for the Big Event which takes place September 11th. James Williams, at jfwilly@shaw.ca or telephone him at 250-390-3738. Thank you so much for your consideration of this request!

ROC Golf – Here is a quote from one of the ROC Golf Attendee’s - How fun was that last night? I think Wendy said it all...."I love this. Someone comes around with food and drinks while you're doing your sport!" Many thanks to Kathleen, Dan and the rest of those who organized it all and to Sophie who created all that delicious food. To Norm, Stefan, Dan and the rest, a great big thanks for the donations. Rich and I both came away with great gifts!!!!!! De, Yvonne, and the others who donated...We have such a generous group! What an auction! BJ will travel in style! Can't wait till next year...

Norm's Note: Some pictures found here: http://www.frontrunners.ca/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album68


Hikes of Mt. Benson Summit and Westwood Ridges – All the hikes are fully booked until sometime in October. The response was amazing. Thanks.

This week run – This weeks run is a run of the Dumont Trails. 7:00 Am at the yellow Gate. Take Dumont Rd to Biggs Rd. Turn Right; go up the hill until you see everyone standing on the side of the road.

Ab Classes – Core Strength Classes Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a great summer. I've been getting a ton of questions regarding abs classes for the fall and winter, so here is the information. There will be two classes to choose from this fall. Monday’s at 6:30AM and Thursday’s at 6:30PM Classes will run in five week blocks and cost $20 for the five weeks, and classes will still take place at Frontrunners and be limited to 20 people. The focus of the classes will always be on core strength. I also think there are a number of other areas runners need to work on and we will focus on these throughout the season. My plan is to also work on flexibility and stretching during the fall, strength training (possibly using resistance bands and the surroundings) over the winter and then really focus on the core strength in the spring as the race season approaches. Because of the limited space, priority to re register will be given to those people already in a class. If you would like to register or have any questions please send me and email at seanlunny@shaw.ca or call me at 756-2279 Thanks and I’m looking forward to seeing you all this fall……Sean

ROC & BASTION Christmas Party is tentatively booked for Saturday, November 19th. Lots more details will be forwarded once the Social Coordinators for ROC and Bastion have gotten together and waved their magic wands and created another fantastic event. Put the date on the Calendar now. Last years party was a blast.

ROC Membership – Membership is now at 138 PAID MEMBERS.

Early Warnings:
· Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 am start, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
· Nanaimo Track & Field 5Km – November 20th , Location and time to be announced, this is a fundraiser for the Track & Field Club
· Gunner Shaw Cross Country – November 27th, Thetis Lake Park Victoria, if you consider yourself a trail runner then you must come to this race with us. It is one of the oldest x/c trail races in BC. Draws a great crowd. Amazing course. It can be wet!!!! Put it on your calendar right now, so you don’t double book yourself.

See ya,

Dan

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #35

Trail Bits

Sadly, I need to start the email off on a bit of a serious note. This past Saturday we actually lost a runner in the woods and were not aware of it until we got back to the parking lot. We originally had thought the person who got lost had decided to turn back on their own, which wasn’t the case. The person had simply stopped to attend to their dog and when they looked up the group was gone. There are a couple of things that need to be addressed so that this can’t happen again.

1). If you are running with the group and need to stop for no matter what the reason, you must tell the person ahead of you that you need to stop. That person will relay the message up through the group to the trail leader who will stop the group.
2). we will be more diligent at making sure we have a trail sweeper in place for all runs. This past Saturday we got lazy and didn’t have a sweeper in place due to the level of experience of all the runners present.

ROC Digital Camera – Thanks to the kind generosity of Kathleen and Brad Richardson, we now have an “official ROC camera” that we can take on trail runs and to ROC events. If you are representing ROC at a function and need to use the camera, please email me well in advance so I can make arrangements to get it to you.

ROC Golf – Don’t forget Thursday night at Winchelsea Golf Course; be at the course by 4:30. If only eating show up at 6:30pm.

Hikes of Mt. Benson Summit and Westwood Ridges – The Coalition to Save Mt. Benson hikes are a huge hit and are booked well into the later part of September. This is a hike, not a run. If you want to come along or have friends that want to come along please pre-register through the Nanaimo and Area Land Trust Office at 714-1990. This hike is one of the awareness hikes that The Coalition to Save Mt. Benson is staging prior to starting of our fundraising efforts to buy the summit of Mt. Benson. Summit hike are coming soon.

This week run – RUN & DIP Again by popular demand we will be returning to Westwood Lake this Saturday – 7:00am. I know we are running out of Westwood a lot, but it is nice to take advantage of the water for a swim while we can. Bring a towel for a quick dip afterwards. We will be out for about 80-90 minutes.

News - Line Couture has just returned home from a successful trip competing in Denmark for the world triathlon championship running at the same time the world track and fields were on in Helsinki. The weather was terrible. (Don't forget there is a 9 hour time zone change and multiple airports) The water was 15 degrees and the air was around 10 degrees. They did not even know how far the swim was going to be until the morning of the race. It was shortened from 4 K to 3 K. This is very cold water even with your suit on. Line swam well even though she was stung in the face by a jellyfish. Then a slow transition with frozen fingers and chattering teeth she continued on to the 120 KM bike portion. At this point it started to warm up and she was actually a bit hot on the bike. Then on to the run (30 K) under sunny skies. Line placed 4th in the ladies 50 to 55 class. For results check out www.fretri.dk. Congratulations Line

Adventure Racing Clinics – Sean Lunny is going to be starting his next Adventure Racing clinic for the Cumberland Momar on Saturday, August 27th and running to September 24th. The clinics will cover everything you need to know about doing a Momar, but especially mountain biking because of the technical course.

Ab Classes – Time to start getting in shape for Sean’s Ab Class which will start some time in early September. Further details will come out in the next week or two.

A little Humour – Confessions of a Runaholic – Behind your wistful desire to run each and every day are the following symptoms shared by confirmed runaholics. A) Weather, be it snow, rain, heat, hail or mild hurricane is not really a consideration. B) You run nearly as many miles per week as you put on your car. C).Your dog refuses to go running with you anymore, and hides when you put on your running gear. D).you have lost the ability to function socially and vocationally without talking about running. You might notice that all of your conversational analogies are running-related. E). You missed the Super Bowl because you had to go for a run F). You routinely eat meals four times the recommended serving size, but you are still skinny, G). You own more running shirts than dress shirts H). You have without a doubt become a rock bottom Runaholic if: you have learned to pee on the run without stopping, You think a 100 miles a week “isn’t that bad”, you get a stress fracture from running too much, have to get it casted and run the next day in the pool, And finally you are given a choice between having sex or going for a run, and you check your watch to see if there’s time to do both….Trail Runner Magazine July 2005 Issue

Early Warnings:
· Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 am start, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
· Nanaimo Track & Field 5Km – November 20th , Location and time to be announced, this is a fundraiser for the Track & Field Club
· Gunner Shaw Cross Country – November 27th, Thetis Lake Park Victoria, if you consider yourself a trail runner then you must come to this race with us. It is one of the oldest x/c trail races in BC. Draws a great crowd. Amazing course. It can be wet!!!! Put it on your calendar right now, so you don’t double book yourself.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Report from the Log Train Trail Marathon

Thanks for your support of our Log Train Trail Event, we had 77 participants, 18 for the full marathon and the rest in the 1/2. There were 2 reports of bears during the run but thankfully the bears ran off course and into the bushes and thank god I didn't see either of them! We only had a few runners who took wrong turns and got a little off course, keeners who wanted to run extra mileage I'm sure. All and all it was a good day and I really enjoyed being on the other side of things for a change, very rewarding and fun to see the runners coming in and helping them, especially the overheated and weary marathon runners. It was even fun doing all the marking on the course the night before. We had a fellow come and run from Ohio, he ran a marathon in the Yukon the weekend before and is going to Calgary next weekend to run another. Another woman came from Toronto to run in the 1/2, she saw an ad about our run and planned a visit to Vancouver with her family and added the run into the holiday

MTB For Sale

Just wanted to put the word out there that my bike is finally on the market... If you know anyone who might be interested, please pass this along. Likewise, if you know anyone who might know someone...and it goes on. Most of you have seen the bike, but it's a Norco Rush circa 2003...? With crank bros. eggbeater pedals, full XT/XTR, sid racing fork, hard tail, lightweight... 17" frame. I am looking for $850 obo and those of you who have ever ridden with me would know that I'm a chicken and that it's been carried more than it's been ridden!

Hope everyone is doing well,
Anne-Mette
jakobsen_annemette@yahoo.ca

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Paul Karchut's Adventures in the South--Part 3

Buenos Tardes from Santiago, yes, back in Santiago after an exciting stint of non-skiing through Northern Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

The night of the day I last wrote, the lot of us who4d been backcountry skiing together at Cajon Grande hit the clubs of San Rafael together. The night was a blast- involved dancing on tables with waitresses & getting back to the hostel at 7:30. Strategically knackered, Alex and I spent 25 hours on buses the next day... our sleep deprivation from the night previous came in very handy.

By the end of the epic bus ride, we were in Salta (Northern Argentina), where we rented a car and were off to explore the following morning. Over a three day period, we drove close to 3,000 kms in that little VW Gol and took it on some roads that perhaps it was not intended to ever see. Namely 4900 meter mountain pass roads that only 4x4 tours use, river crossings which soaked my feet, etc, etc. As always, the Volkswagon brand was very good to me!

We got back to Salta, had a down day... played soccer with some locals on an astroturf pitch (at which point I realized a) that I4m a terrible, terrible soccer player and b) my athletic abilities in the "team sports" realm have decayed dramatically since high school) . I also got a straight razor shave at a barber shop (which some would argue was entirely unnecessary for my baby face, but what the hell!).

We caught a bus into San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) the following morning. From there, we hit the road in a hired Landcruiser into Bolivia for a 4 day/3 night tour of Southern Bolivia. The terrain was amazing. From the Bolivian salt flats, the most inhospitable place on earth. A 2500 km wide stretch of meter deep salt deposits. To a night4s sleep at 16,000 feet, where Alex made a soccer ball with a local boy and we tried to play a game... at which point we nearly died of oxygen deprivation.

Gorgeous country, friendly people, sketchy plumbing!

We got back to San Pedro a few days ago, relaxed for a couple of days, then bused back down to Santiago yesterday on another colossal 24 hour bus ride.

Back to business, tomorrow we get our asses slope side for another round of skiing before our ever approaching departure date... August 21st. Is it two months already??!!

Thinking of you all. Write me.

Much love,
Paul

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #34

Trail Bits

Not much to report from the weekend as most of the ROC gang was off in all directions either running, racing or holidaying in places like Port Alberni, Campbell River, Lantzville Foothills or Hornby Island. I haven’t heard from anyone so I don’t have anything to pass along.

ROC Golf – Don’t forget that the golf tournament is next Thursday night at Winchelsea Golf Course; be at the course by 4:30. Dinner only is an option. If you only want to eat and drink, meet me in the clubhouse anytime after 6:30pm.

The Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon Speed Report – What more can I say! The speedsters are coming. Steve, Bruce, Tina and Darcie along with local speedsters, Kim Gagliano, Stefan Jacobsen, John Lowen, Dave De Pasquale, John Grabher, Eric McCormick and others will be taking a shot at the prize money. The great thing about road racing is that ordinary folks like us can line up along side some of the top people in the sport and compete in the same event. You can’t do that in hockey or baseball. If you haven’t registered for the Half yet, please do us a favor and do it as soon as you can. It lightens the work load…thanks

Hikes of Mt. Benson Summit and Westwood Ridges – I will be leading an awareness hike of the Westwood Ridges on the morning of August 24th at 9:00 am from the main Westwood Lake Parking lot. Bring water. We will be out for about 2.5 hours. This is a hike, not a run. If you want to come along or have friends that want to come along please pre-register through the Nanaimo and Area Land Trust Office at 714-1990. This hike is one of the awareness hikes that The Coalition to Save Mt. Benson is staging prior to starting of our fundraising efforts to buy the summit of Mt. Benson. Summit hike are coming soon.

This weeks run – RUN & DIP By popular demand we will be returning to Westwood Lake this Saturday – 7:00am . We will be running either the Ridges or the saddle. Bring a towel for a quick dip afterwards. We will be out for about 80-90 minutes.

Early Warnings:
· Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 am start, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
· Nanaimo Track & Field 5Km November 20th , Location and time to be announced, this is a fundraiser for the Track & Field Club
· Gunner Shaw Cross Country – November 27th, Thetis Lake Park Victoria, if you consider yourself a trail runner then you must come to this race with us. It is one of the oldest x/c trail races in BC. Draws a great crowd. Amazing course. It can be wet!!!! Put it on your calendar right now, so you don’t double book yourself.

Mike Vine Reports from Keystone X-Terra Champs

Hey all, the Keystone XTerra event went off this weekend and for those who are unfamiliar with this event, well it's not just another Pro Tour stop. This event lies in the 'ultimate challenge' category - at least in my books it does! With its 1km coldwater swim at 9300', 30 km mtb up to the dizzying heights of 11660' and high speed technical descent, followed by an 11 km trail run, this event ensures a severe treatment of lung searing pain for all who dare to compete.
As such, this event is part of my self proclaimed 'triple crown' of xterra - i hold it in high regard along with the USA champs in tahoe and world's in maui. Keystone is extra special because it's the venue where i became hooked on xterra ever since competing at the inaugural 1998 event. This year was my 6th trip there.... missing the last 2 years in keystone has been hard to swallow. As a result, leading up to this event I had the feeling like i deserve to do well.
also boosting my confidence was a strong race on a similar course in crested butte 2 weeks earlier and knowing i've performed well here before when i set the course record in 01.
when the gun went off i did exactly what had to be done.... hung with the lead pack on the swim ( easily my best swim of the year ), then once on the bike i let rip. didn't hurt coming out of T1 and seeing the race lead within sight... conrad and the ITU guys ( ie fishlike swimmers ) were all right there. after the first 6 min climb up the service road to the singletrack i had already moved into the lead. At this point the adrenals were pumping and the blood was boiling. the climb almost felt effortless... i summited keystone mtn 45 min later and there was nobody in sight. apparently my lead was 4 1/2 min. ah yes, what a feeling! onto the descent the upper half of which is wide open... must admit my aged hardtail is not the weapon of choice over this rocky terrain.

Lower down is the tighter more technical track which i thoroughly enjoy, especially after clearing the chute on 'wild thing' and a smooth wheelie drop off the big boulder had me grinning. heading out of T2 onto the run i could see Conrad had bombed the dh and was 2:45 down. but still, a steady tempo was all that was between me and my first XTerra Pro Tour win since 2001. I felt spry - just like at crested butte 2 weeks ago - and enjoyed every step of the way, stretching the lead to 4 1/2 min at the line. Only last year's champ Josiah Middaugh outsplit me on the run.
What a day! justification to the sometimes overwhelming 2 years of commitment to training in exile.
This week Ann and I are on a schedule...another day in Keystone , 2 in Moab UT, 3 in Sun Valley ID, and finally the weekend in Bend OR for the Sisters High Cascades XTERRA points race. rough times!
for now,
Vineblaster

STORY-
http://triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=10621&publicationID=92&pageID=1705

RESULTS-
http://www.xterraplanet.com/race/results_05/keystone_05overall.html

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #33

Trail Bits

Well, the trail pursuits were a big hit on Saturday morning. Running a set of Fartleks on a twisting turning trail is something that really makes you keep your eyes on the trail ahead of you and really works the legs muscles. The Sunday long run was great. We reduced it to 2 hours and cruised along the single track trails in and around the Westwood and Morell Nature Sanctuary area. Followed up with a swim…..water was cold though!


Harbour City Half Marathon Volunteers – Please remember that James Williams is in need of course marshals for the Big Event which takes place September 11th. James is asking those of you who are able to commit to volunteering as a course marshal of in any other capacity to please e-mail, James Williams, at jfwilly@shaw.ca or telephone him at 250-390-3738. Thank you so much for your consideration of his request!

Draw Prizes – we are starting to gather draw prizes for The Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon and 10K Road Race if you have anything you would like to donate. We are also looking for items to put in the runners bags. Let me know if you have something and I will have the appropriate Committee Chair contact you…Thank you.

This Weeks run is a run of Humility Abyss - one hour and change – meet at 7:00 am under the Hydro lines on Harewood Mines Road. Drop me a note if you need driving directions. BRING WATER! We will try and continue the trail pursuits, but they will be limited to those people who are comfortable with doing them. DO NOT FEEL THAT YOU HAVE TO DO THEM. We will continue to loop back with the main group after doing each set. We do not want to scare people away.

Long Train – if you are thinking of coming and doing either the half or the full let me know and we can arrange car pooling. There are 6 or 7 of us going so far.

Hikes of Mt. Benson Summit and Westwood Ridges – starting in the next couple of weeks, the Coalition to Save Mt. Benson is going to be offering awareness hikes of these areas. The intent is to have both mid week and a weekend hikes available. These will be hikes not runs. I will send you more details when we have developed them.

ROC Social Committee - is working on finalizing a date for the ROC Golf Tournament. Kathleen and her gang of merry socializers will forward details once they are complete.

New Websites – Please have a look at the new ROC website http://www.runnersofcompassionnanaimo.com and the new Frontrunners website http://www.frontrunners.ca/default.asp

Early Warnings:
· Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 am start, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
· Half Monty (25K) & Full Monty (50k) trail races are August 20th, 10:00 am start, just outside of Victoria. There are a few of us going down if you want to come along. Here is the race website http://www.clubfatass.com/events/FullMonty
· Log Train Trail Half and Full Marathons – Sunday, August 14th, Port Alberni. Mary Bauto one of our ROC members is the Race Director for this very nice trail race. http://www.arrowsmithradicalrunners.com/PDF%20files/LTTentry.pdf

Mike Vine Reports from Crested Butte Xterra

thought i'd send an update on my Colorado trip which kicked off this weekend with an XTerra regional in Crested Butte.
this event was spectacular, couldn't ask for more - perf sunny weather and venue, well organized. Most were saying it's their favorite xterra... even though it was such a toughie.
For myself, departing from my home in Victoria BC at sea level on thursday morning and driving 24 solid hrs in a vehicle with no a/c added to the challenge.
temps are high at this time of the year, topping 100F through idaho, utah, and much of Colo.
The CB event is a perfect tuneup for the upcoming Keystone Pro Tour stop, with a 1 k swim at 9100' and technical and hilly 24 km ride topping out at 10000'+ followed by a 9 km run which included a hefty ascent as well.
A number of colorado's finest pros were on hand including last year's champ ( and keystone champ ) Josiah Middaugh. With 5 K prize $ on the line there would be no holding back .
Warming up on the course i felt surprisingly spry, hardly breathing any harder... which carried over to raceday and whaddya know , i had the perfect day - eased in offf the start- the swim is extremely tough at 9000'+ - and opened it up once on the ride and run.
on the bike i found i was climbing well and kept it smooth on the descents. at T2 i had expanded my lead slightly on josiah but only had a mere 1 minute on likely the best runner in xterra at altitude...
figured i was a goner. but the stride was there the lungs were holding and to my surprise i was still ahead after the big climb. From here i could smell the big dollars and i held it with a 35 sec gap at the finish. Yeehaw! a welcome turn of events after a severe clobbering only 7 days earlier in milwaukee...
sometimes you never can tell. Now i'm eagerly anticipating the upcoming Keystone venue - i have 2 weeks now on location at 9300' to acclimate properly and prepare... maybe even show em who set that course record in 01 that just happens to be still standing.
for now,
Mike
mikevine.athletesjournal.com

Monday, August 01, 2005

Kathie reports on the Self Transcendence Triathlon

Hi everyone: Sucess, I finished. Yipee.
I rose up out of my warm bed at 4 AM Sunday morning and drove down to the Cowichan Lake cutoff to pick up my friend Tim for the triathlon. We agreed how crazy it was to be travelling at this time of the day (night) to beat ourselves up in a race. We are athletics and we are addicted. We arrived at Elk Lake almost before the volunteers and YES we did get a super parking spot. We checked in and got marked (me with Julie someones number as I had been given the wrong bag) so stroke over her number to my number. No problem. We met Gillian and Mike there and it was nice to have our little group. I was very happy to finally get on my wetsuit and do a little warm up to see if I could breathe. And I could, I was very relieved. I started in the second wave and swam in a pack of 10 or so the whole time. I was happy with my swim split and first transition. Out on the bike I quickly realized that it was going to be a very challenging course. As it was an out and back I thought a few times man was this going to be a toughy coming back. I got passed by a really lot (I mean tons) of people but it didn't bug me, as I knew that I beat them in the swim. The ride was really lovely, though nice country and the volunteers were first class. I had a bad back ache for the first half and think that I will get my bike checked for sizing when we get back, cause it seems my back hurts most times on my bike. Anyhow, I keep saying this but I need a lot more time on the bike. My legs were burning most of the way back. I perked up when I saw the lake again (sooner than I thought) and yes there were runners on the trail. Good transition and out on the run. Felt good for the first few K then started to feel the heat of the day. I couldn't drink enough. Again the volunteers were chatty and kind. The last 3 K were very hot but took a caffine laced gel and the last couple of K showed a new upright posture and I stopped thinking negative thoughts. I was very happy to finish and even tho I had hoped to do a little better time wise (don't we all) I was pleased to have finished my first Olympic triathlon.
Wish everyone happy trails and flying feet.
Kathie
Oh ya. Today was really hard. Having second thoughts about the 1/2 Iron.

Gillian Reports on the Self Transcendence Triathlon

Yesterday was my first tri in 2 years...and it felt that way. But as always the tough days bring out the best mind games and revelations about why you're there and what you're up to in life.
I wasn't really sure where my swim was going to be, so I placed myself in the fourth heat...which was probably a little slow- but good for confidence building when I caught some of the people in the two heats preceding. I felt really strong in the swim - despite the fact that I had "Electric Youth" by 80's teen diva Debbie Gibson stuck in my head (don't ask!)- it actually had a great beat for swimming ;). My first transition was wickedly slow. Definitely need to practice getting my wet suit off and hustling a little onto the bike (perhaps reclaiming my 'sausage suit' as new buddy from the race, Carolyn would say- we'll see). Onto the bike I knew it would be tough. Mike and I pre-drove the route, and from history I know that if it looks tough in the car- it's gonna be tougher by bike. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised however that the what goes up must come DOWN theory of gravity was in my favour. Most of the hills coming down gave you enough to get up at least 1/2 of the next up. I may have been passed going up (let's not count- as Kathie said I was faster in the swim!) but I sure did make up downhill...clocked up to 65km/h on one! Z-O-O-M. Still had electric youth in my head for the first part of the ride...then finally... "get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure, and whatever comes my way"...that's right...a little born to be wild- there really is no rhyme or reason to songs in my head- they randomly pop up and usually keep me going whatever they may be! Heading back from the turn around I realized I was pretty far back...and started to get into a mental game...but then my saving grace arrived...yup another song...good old Garth Brooks ..."standing outside the fire...life is not tried it is merely survived when you're standing outside the fire"...pick it up honey -no one ever said this would be easy! The rest of the ride picked up -I even picked off one rider...and I was back into transition (albeit looking a tad bit rough according to
Mike- after- he'd never be so stupid to tell me that during). Off to the
run- better transition. L-E-A-D L-E-G-S. Ugh...doesn't matter how much I practice this transition by doing bricks. Still feels crappy...but...I pushed through and actually did a negative split. With 2.8k to go (one of the MANY kind volunteers informed me) I figured it was time to pick up the pace. KRAP! That's still like a third of the run...what was I thinking...but my 'espresso love' caffeine kicked in and despite REALLY wanting to walk on that last sunny stretch along the bridges I didn't (mostly because I'm stubborn as an ox- and people could see me- how petty).
Came into the home stretch and got cheered in like a champ (thanks Mike and Kathie!).
All in all it was a wonderful 'welcome back' race. The volunteers were fabulous (I did my traditional thank you's out on the course)...and the participants were a lot of fun and friendly! It was a little slower than the last time I did this distance...time was lost primarily in the run.
It's given me new inspiration and new goals.
Whahoo...looking forward to next year and half iron!
Gill

Simms takes first Canada Cup Victory!

Wendy had an awesome race on the weekend at the Canada Cup in Fernie, B.C. with hwe first Canada Cup Victory!

http://www.pedalmag.com/index.php?module=Section&action=viewdetail&item_id=4836&PHPSESSID=68ef89ac6d1f7c36eb1661b500f38871