![]() Swim
Comments: The start reminded me of that Clif Bar video on YouTube where theh horn goes off and the guy's friends are hitting him the the swim noodles. Lots of contact! I took in a big breath of water in the 1st 200 meters and it took a while to get my breath and composure back. Got into my rhythm though and felt pretty good. Staggered out of water after 1st lap and jogged around buoys and back into water. Ran in this time and kind of dove. Part way through the 2nd lap, the hounds (mens 25-30) were released behind us and they caught me right away. Talk about contact!, talk about washing machine!!! I was kicked and hit and ducked and they went flying by. Fun to watch but not all that fun to be in. One guy grabbed my ankle for his "catch" and his next grab was my shoulder and he went right over the top of me. I'm glad I'm not in THAT division! Rest of swim went fine, the last stretch is right along the sidewalk and I could hear people cheering even underwater, it was really cool. Saw Heather as I got out and ran to T1 What would you do differently?: Maybe start a little closer to the front of my group. I made some naviagation errors and swam farther than I should have but overall was pretty happy. ![]() Transition 1
Comments: This was a slow time but a lot of it was taken up running up the sidewalk to transition area. I remembered my bodyglide this time and my wetsuit came right off. I also rolled up my socks and they went on well too. This was pretty good for me. Everything was wet from the rain though, it hadn't stopped yet. What would you do differently?: Not much, practice I guess. ![]() Bike
Comments: This is the 1st race I've ever done in the rain. 2 sets of railroad tracks but they were covered. A good little hill about 1.5 mi into the course got the HR way up each time and it got harder every time around. I picked up lots of road dirt on the bike and me and had to adjust my shifts a lot to keep things from rubbing. Lots of corners and puddles, it was a fun course, lot of people to cheer and going by the start/finish area, it was all fenced off with CROWDS! I saw H each time by and it was nice to hear someone cheering for me too. Each lap was a little slower but I was comfortable in the wet and had no problems. I did hear that a few people crashed though going over sidewalk paint. What would you do differently?: Not much, I rode about as well as I'd hoped here. ![]() Transition 2
Comments: It went ok, my feet were soaked so a little tough to put into running shoes but I was in and out about as expected. What would you do differently?: not much here. ![]() Run
Comments: I felt pretty good on the run. It was still raining so staying cool was no problem and I carried some gel in a flask on my belt, used it every 15 mins or so. Gatorade on course, I walked all the aid stations to drink but ran everything else. Passed a few people but a lot more passed me. I stayed well within my own pace and it went pretty well. It's a big time finish, a LOUD announcer and big crowds. What would you do differently?: not much, felt pretty good. This was a better time that I was expecting, probably due to the rain and cool. ![]() Post race
Warm down: Walked around, drank a Powerbar Recovery shake, they were handing them out, how could I say no? Besides, I really like them! Stood in line for a very very nice massage but froze while in line. Met Vancityj, from BT, he came over and said hi. Recognized my Teamblaze jersey and he had on this wild crazy jersey, it was great! After massage, watched the Pros go flying by, went and picked up my bike and stuff. I can't believe what a mess I made out of my transition area! Event comments: This was probably the most professionally run race I've ever been in. Partly because of the ITU race and mostly because of the work by the organizing committe and the volunteers, they were the best! Kelowna gets the National Championships next yest and I'm hoping to come back again. Last updated: 2007-08-19 12:00 AM
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Canada
The Kelowna Apple Triathlon Society
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 241/271
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 26/31
Drove up to Kelowna the 2 days before to visit family and went for a little ride around the bike course the day before. Dropped off the bike at transition for overnight storage. I was glad they had good security!
Got up at 4:45am, made oatmeal and toast w/pb and a banana. I had packed up everything the night before so just put all in the truck and we headed out the door. Hmmm, it's raining after yesterdays' hot weather. No worries about whether wetsuit legal now, YAY!!!
Arrived at race site, grabbed my bag and went to set up transition, after walking 1/2 way there, realized I'd let the air out of my tires the day before so back to truck for pump. Now I'm ready! EZ setup this time and met some guys in my AG, the all looked a LOT more fit than me but a nice bunch of guys. Stood in line at the pp and struggled into my wetsuit. LOTS of Bodyglide this time but wet body into tight wetsuit was real fun. Lots of laughs though watching everyone else too.
Walked down to beach and watched a couple of waves go, I think there were 6 altogether. Went for a little swim and then time to line up. This was beach start, I've never done a run into water and splash around start before so hung towards the back. I was freezing in the rain and my blue skin was a nice compliment to my green hat.