Ski2Sea - 2010 Chris and Martins Big Day Out

[MartinC]

Chris and I made our second appearence as a team of two for this annual multi-sport extravaganza in Kelowna. The race has six legs, downhill ski, X-C ski, mountain bike, road bike, run and paddle.
We broke it up with Chris first doing the uphill run (in ski boots, carrying downhill gear) and then downhill ski, with me to follow on the XC and alternated thereafter sharing the run with chris doing the first 8K and I the rest.
The final result: 8th overall behind 7 other teams (all with each leg being done by a different individual) and winning the recreational category by almost 15 minutes. Final time was 4.01.55, just failing to break the magic 4 hour mark. It was a big improvement from the previous year.
I hope Chris will chime in to report on his particular legs. For me the race went as follows:
XC Ski- Well it was about 6 weeks since I had put the skate skis on, so I wasn't too confident......with the memories of last years sufferfest I was determined not to blow apart as spectacularly as I had the year before and tried to pace myself slightly, determined not to let my shaky technique completely disintegrate. The strategy worked and I found myself actually remembering to glide in sections, no falls this year and  about a two minute improvement over the previous year. AvHR170/Max 181 with a time of 25.41(overall place 22nd).
Road Bike - I allowed myself the luxury of a fulled geared up new TT ride this year, and this was the maiden voyage. It did not disappoint me................ There was a headwind this year so times were a bit slower than the previous year. Actually held back a little as I really wanted to let her rip on the run so my AvHR was only 162, Max 168. Improved my placing overall from 7th last year to 4th this year. And as this will probably be my only chance to ever say it, passed the Olympic RR Bronze medallist on the road in the process.(In fact, I had to sit up on the fastest part of the course as he was holding up a couple of cars so I could not pass until the cars went by so missed my chance at a max speed attempt..........still, I got to have a drink.) time was 51.34, Av Speed 44.1kph.
Run Section-Chris and I tagged off on the Greenway. The competition was well spread out at this point and I settled in focusing on my cadence, remembering quick feet, quick feet and running on the white lines whenever they presented an opportunity (Andrew will get this joke).I had all the Polar gear on, that little foot pod is amazing, also had the GPS running. Cadence reading was a constant reminder to keep up my turnover. Managed to catch and pass one guy but was otherwise on my own for most of it. Well, if the equipment is to be believed, ran 6.9K in 26.10, av cadence 92, av pace 3.46 min/k, avHR 166, max 173.
Canoe - Well I have little to say here other than thank God Chris knows how to steer one of these things. The conditions were great, bit of wind, not too cold and after the all out pace of everything else it seemed almost mellow in comparison. We came in around 43 minutes.
Chris will add his comments but I just wanted to point out what an incredible start he gave us, being 3rd into the first transition and then have a rocking mountain bike, so fast in fact that I almost did not make the transition!

[kiwichris]

Thanks for the EGO boost Martin - after last year I had to let it all hang out there.
Here is my little summary
Up hill/Down hill - definitely the worst of the legs for me - it is an absolute slog fest - a half mile run UPHILL in ski boots - carrying the skis and poles!! That acidic/metallic taste was defintely evident as I strapped the ski on at the top. Actually tried to pace myself this year - got a good start - walked along the middle section with my long strides - and then hung on up the steepest part. I was actually surprised to find myself in third at this stage and had a fun run down through the gates to the transition. Wicked to come in 3rd there.
Mountain Bike - my bike building venture paid off this year with a dedicated fully rigid 29er. I felt strong coming out of the icey parking lot and hit the road ready to go. I past 2 guys on the hill out of big white - HR climbed here but I had a downhill to recover after this so let it hang out there. Continued to feel strong until Axel Merckx came cruising by me - I tried to stay on his wheel but had NO CHANCE!!!! We hit the forestry road and I managed to just keep him in sight for the last 15 minutes leading to transition. Knocked 9 minutes of last years time (no puncture this year) and 8th overall - so stoked again.
Run - Last year I blew up badly about 4 km into my section. This year I focussed on keeping cadence high (my GPS and foot-pod decided not to work so I went on feel). I was a little dehydrated going in and I started cramping about 5 km in - 3km to go. Had a quick walk to get some fuel in as the cramps were getting worse - then grinned and hung in there for the rest. The positives - kept cadence up and form was good - feeling quads and calves today so that is showing me that run form has changed to forefoot striking - YAY!  Gladly tagged off to Martin who ripped it up for the rest of the run!!
Canoe - this is the most pleasant of the envents - a nice paddle on the lake. Martin set the pace and we had our groove on early. Some teams left just before us - but they had fast boats and well - they hadn't done anything else all day!!! Kept them in our sights until the turn-around and then we saw our prey - a team about 200m in front of us - and they were struggling. We stepped up our stroke count and glided by them into 8th overall!!

Overall - sweet day - can't thank Martin enough for being a wicked partner!

Take-aways;
1) Nutrition - didn't drink enough today - got the calories in - but started to cramp - MUST DRINK MORE WATER
2) Running form - can check this off now - change complete. HOWEVER - feel some strengthening required in quads and calves - so plyometrics on the way for me leading up to Oliver olympic!
3) Let it all hang out today- felt great throughout - felt respiration rate on the run was hard to control - held 3 and 3 for 90% of the time - had to switch to 2 and 2 sporadically. Back to the spirotiger for me - just to ensure top end efficiency.

[PeterW]

...and then we saw our prey - a team about 200m in front of us - and they were struggling. We stepped up our stroke count and glided by them into 8th overall!!

What Chris failed to mention is that "prey" was the paddlers of my team! Ha!

Wicked race guys, I was stoked to see you 2 at every exchange right up there with the leaders!
It was my first time taking part in the race, and it was great! It's a huge event with so many people out supporting it.
I took part on a team, Doing the Nordic ski portion. I was only added to the team the Wednesday before the race, so I was going in with pretty much no preparation. My last Nordic ski was almost 2 month's before! So, not knowing the course, and not knowing how my body would respond to high intensity skiing, I focused on staying relaxed and smooth, and controlling my breathing.
It turned out good, I was able to move my team from 16th after the alpine, up to 4th going into the mountain bike! a time of 21:01.
 I was disappointed, however, that I could not get my HR monitor started at the start of the race, So I was unable to see my HR patterns during the race.
 We held fourth up until the paddle, where the like's of the "thunder down under" were just too strong!

Next year Balance point needs a team to rival TR!

[Andrew]

I agree with Peter, that BPR should be represented next year.

I would like to suggest we try to support a number of athletes who want to complete the event solo, and have one or two teams to try to make the podium. In the past, we have had great success in the women's field, and were not too far behind the TR team a couple of years ago. With our growing group of HP members, and with talent like Peter for the ski leg, we really could have a potentially great team.

For the solo athletes, it is all about organization, but we should be able to carpool to the first drop off points, as long as we have a vehicle that can handle the MTBs and skis. Maybe two vehicles to shuttle athletes up, and cheer them out of the village, with another waiting at the T3 for the Road Bike portion. I am way ahead of you, and have been wanting to race solo since I heard of the event a few years ago.

BPR 2011...I love a team that thinks ahead. We will need to run some specific hike/ski/cx sessions next winter in preparation!

[GinnySellars]

GREAT race boys!

Would have been fun to see you screaming down the ski hill Chris. Your running is certainly getting to a new level since last race season.

44km/hr Martin? That's rockett fast!