Ironman is getting so expensive. I dropped $702 to race next year, but what the hell - it's only money and it is what I do afterall!
I forgot to mention in my earlier entry that there were over 2,800 athletes starting the race yesterday, and there was quite a bit of carnage on the road with all the cyclists. How they can have a drafting rule with that many bikes on the road is beyond my comprehension. If you are in a cyclist's draft zone you have 20 seconds to pass, and with that many bikes on the road, it's pretty difficult to stay five metres behind the bike ahead of you, and then as soon as you pass that bike there's another bike to pass. It's a good thing the drafting marshalls aren't always around, but if they catch someone drafting, it's a four minute penalty in the sin bin. With next year being the 30th anniversary of Ironman Canada, there will likely be more athletes than this year. They almost didn't have enough room for all the bikes in transition this year. I think it's about time they put a cap on the number of athletes. It's becoming dangerous.
It was just announced recently that there is a new Ironman in Canada to add to the list of Ironmans around the world - in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Now us triathletes will have two Canadian venues to choose from and it's about time. Well, 2012 is already spoken for, 2013 is Italy, so Mont-Tremblant will have to wait until 2014!
Today has been a pretty boring day. We went to Tickleberry's for ice cream. I had a single waffle cone, which is actually three scoops of ice cream. I love ice cream, but by the end of the third scoop, I wasn't enjoying it too much.
We leave homebound early tomorrow morning, but not before we stop by and pick up our pre-ordered fruit - peaches, grapes, plums, and blueberries.
It has been a whirlwind trip, but I had a lot of fun volunteering and connecting with some of my friends that I don't see much at home.
Vernazza
Monday, August 29, 2011
Warm and Sunny Penticton
Here I am in sunny Penticton. I came down here to watch Ironman Canada and volunteer. I love the energy of Penticton during Ironman Week. Of course, the main reason I'm here is to register for next year's race. After taking this summer off of triathlon, I'm looking forward to getting back into training. Watching the race is so inspiring.
My volunteer duty started out in the nutrition tent. We were preparing food for the entire race - volunteers and athletes alike. Sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, muffins, cookies, pretzels and fruit. Every two hours Dominos Pizza delivered about 30 pizzas to feed us hungry volunteers, and by the time the last delivery was made, there were over 800 extra large pizzas to feed us and the athletes when they were finished their gruelling day.
I was making sandwiches when I heard Paul Tichelaar's name announced when he was coming in from the bike. I dropped everything and ran over to see him come out on the run. It was so good to see him out there. I saw alot of other friends as well.
After about two hours in the nutrition tent, the bike transition captain came over and asked if he could borrow a few volunteers to help out in his area. I immediately put my hand up. It sounded like so much more fun than preparing food. When the triathletes finish their 180 km ride, they hand their bikes over to us to re-rack them. It was a flurry of activity because sometimes there were 12 bikes or more that would come in at one time. It was quite an assembly line. Other than wetsuit peeling, I think it is the busiest area. There were about 60 of us running around transition re-racking bikes while working up a sweat. It was 34 degrees on race day. I felt sorry for the athletes. I certainly got my exercise running all over the place. Brian Gerbrandt from the bike club was in transition too. Nice to see a friendly face, not that they weren't all friendly. I met a lot of new friends. Maaan, there were some nice bikes. I was in bike heaven. I must have had my hands on about $200,000 worth of carbon fibre ha.
When my shift was over I went back to the hotel to watch more action. Super 8 is on Main Street, so I didn't have to go very far to see the action.
Some people say they don't understand why I do this and that I'm crazy. When they ask me, I always have the same answer - because I enjoy the training, being able to eat endlessly, and of course the bragging rights - well, I already have bragging rights six times over. It's a healthy way of life and I love working towards a goal. Oh, and I'm never bored! Why do you do what you do????
Today is a relaxation day, but first thing's first - registration at 9 a.m. and then to Peach City Sports to look at wet suits. Mine has a few tears in it so I think it's high time I get a new one.
I also want to check out helmets at the Bike Barn. I figure some helmets may be on sale now that Ironman is over. After that, the only thing I'll need is a new bike - yikes. I guess now that I've said it out loud, I'll have to get one.
Well, I better sign off now and start my day. Stay tuned.
P.S. Paul Tichelaar's time and overall placing:
Overall: 10:34:08
Swim: 53:20
Bike: 5:33:35
Run: 4:03:19
T1: 1:29
T2: 2:29
My volunteer duty started out in the nutrition tent. We were preparing food for the entire race - volunteers and athletes alike. Sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, muffins, cookies, pretzels and fruit. Every two hours Dominos Pizza delivered about 30 pizzas to feed us hungry volunteers, and by the time the last delivery was made, there were over 800 extra large pizzas to feed us and the athletes when they were finished their gruelling day.
I was making sandwiches when I heard Paul Tichelaar's name announced when he was coming in from the bike. I dropped everything and ran over to see him come out on the run. It was so good to see him out there. I saw alot of other friends as well.
After about two hours in the nutrition tent, the bike transition captain came over and asked if he could borrow a few volunteers to help out in his area. I immediately put my hand up. It sounded like so much more fun than preparing food. When the triathletes finish their 180 km ride, they hand their bikes over to us to re-rack them. It was a flurry of activity because sometimes there were 12 bikes or more that would come in at one time. It was quite an assembly line. Other than wetsuit peeling, I think it is the busiest area. There were about 60 of us running around transition re-racking bikes while working up a sweat. It was 34 degrees on race day. I felt sorry for the athletes. I certainly got my exercise running all over the place. Brian Gerbrandt from the bike club was in transition too. Nice to see a friendly face, not that they weren't all friendly. I met a lot of new friends. Maaan, there were some nice bikes. I was in bike heaven. I must have had my hands on about $200,000 worth of carbon fibre ha.
When my shift was over I went back to the hotel to watch more action. Super 8 is on Main Street, so I didn't have to go very far to see the action.
Some people say they don't understand why I do this and that I'm crazy. When they ask me, I always have the same answer - because I enjoy the training, being able to eat endlessly, and of course the bragging rights - well, I already have bragging rights six times over. It's a healthy way of life and I love working towards a goal. Oh, and I'm never bored! Why do you do what you do????
Today is a relaxation day, but first thing's first - registration at 9 a.m. and then to Peach City Sports to look at wet suits. Mine has a few tears in it so I think it's high time I get a new one.
I also want to check out helmets at the Bike Barn. I figure some helmets may be on sale now that Ironman is over. After that, the only thing I'll need is a new bike - yikes. I guess now that I've said it out loud, I'll have to get one.
Well, I better sign off now and start my day. Stay tuned.
P.S. Paul Tichelaar's time and overall placing:
Overall: 10:34:08
Swim: 53:20
Bike: 5:33:35
Run: 4:03:19
T1: 1:29
T2: 2:29
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A much needed break
In May I decided I was going to take the summer off of triathlon. After 10 years of training I needed a mental, as well as a physical break. I was just going through the motions of training, but my heart wasn't in it. I've stayed true to my decision, that is until I decided I needed a goal so I could maintain some level of fitness. I registered for the Kelowna half marathon on the Thanksgiving Day long week-end. I need a goal for training; I can't just run for the sake of running - that's boring.
I still ride at least once per week - when I want to - and it feels good to not feel obligated to put in so many hours on the bike.
I wanted to stay somewhat involved in triathlon, and once a triathlete always a triathlete, so I registered for two back-to-back sprint triathlons... Lake Chaparral on August 7 in Calgary and St. Albert on August 14. After all, they are short triathlons and I figured I have enough of a base that I can get through a couple of short races with no training.
As the day of Lake Chapparal was approaching, I started getting nervous that I may not race too well, but I wasn't overly concerned. I have nothing to prove to anyone.
Race day is here and I'm ready to toe the line. My swim is going well and I'm not going off course, well not a lot anyway. My time was 17:49 - decent, considering I haven't swam since Ironman last August. At 47:53 the bike took longer than usual for a 20 km ride, but I later found out that the course was long, so that made me feel much better. Oh maan! Am I going to be able to get through a 5 km run after all that. I guess we'll see. Good news; I got through it with a time of 32:16. My overall time was 1:37:57, 9th out of 27 women is pretty respectable - the top third. Check out my results here. Oh, and just so you know; triathlons are easier to get through if you train!
That was last week-end; now onto this week-end.
I didn't have to wake up quite as early this morning since I only live three minutes away from the race site. My swim was slower today than last week-end. I guess wet suits really do improve a person's swim time. The swim took 18:13; bike 45:05 and run 28:51. Fourth out of 13 in my age category is very decent, and considering I'm at the top of my age group and the majority of my competitors are younger than me, that's even more of a well-deserved pat-on-the-back. Each of my three disciplines are OK; it's my transitions that need work - they are so slow. Here are my results.
I still ride at least once per week - when I want to - and it feels good to not feel obligated to put in so many hours on the bike.
I wanted to stay somewhat involved in triathlon, and once a triathlete always a triathlete, so I registered for two back-to-back sprint triathlons... Lake Chaparral on August 7 in Calgary and St. Albert on August 14. After all, they are short triathlons and I figured I have enough of a base that I can get through a couple of short races with no training.
As the day of Lake Chapparal was approaching, I started getting nervous that I may not race too well, but I wasn't overly concerned. I have nothing to prove to anyone.
Race day is here and I'm ready to toe the line. My swim is going well and I'm not going off course, well not a lot anyway. My time was 17:49 - decent, considering I haven't swam since Ironman last August. At 47:53 the bike took longer than usual for a 20 km ride, but I later found out that the course was long, so that made me feel much better. Oh maan! Am I going to be able to get through a 5 km run after all that. I guess we'll see. Good news; I got through it with a time of 32:16. My overall time was 1:37:57, 9th out of 27 women is pretty respectable - the top third. Check out my results here. Oh, and just so you know; triathlons are easier to get through if you train!
That was last week-end; now onto this week-end.
I didn't have to wake up quite as early this morning since I only live three minutes away from the race site. My swim was slower today than last week-end. I guess wet suits really do improve a person's swim time. The swim took 18:13; bike 45:05 and run 28:51. Fourth out of 13 in my age category is very decent, and considering I'm at the top of my age group and the majority of my competitors are younger than me, that's even more of a well-deserved pat-on-the-back. Each of my three disciplines are OK; it's my transitions that need work - they are so slow. Here are my results.
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