Kelowna Apple Triathlon RR

[MartinC]

Well, the 2010 edition, where to start.............. After a month of somewhat restricted training due to a rib cartilege injury and a week of not knowing whether I was going to have a job, I can't say I felt at my peak either physically or emotionally. Finally got a couple of good nights sleeps on friday and saturday so sunday morning dawned with clouds and wind. At least it would be a wetsuit swim.............
The swim was tough for me, having done less swimming in a month than I would usually do in a week, I was just hoping for the best. There was some chop and on the second lap my arms were noodles, I had nothing. 2007 swim - 21.55, 2009 swim -22.43, 2010 swim 23.25.
Onto the bike and it took forever to get my HR down to my planned target. After settling in the course was a lot of fun plenty of corners, people to pass and fast straights to let her rip! It was a bit windy out there but I was able to control my HR and had an average of 157 for the ride. I tried to ride at as even a level of effort as I could but the Knox hill pushed my HR over target each time, even in my lowest gear. For some reason my chip did not record my bike times, but a bit of math shows my bike and T2 combined as 1.03.46 about dead even with 2009 and 2007.
My T2 was a bit slow as I had to put on some socks and then it was into the run which I had been looking forward to all month. For the first 2K I felt flat, tried to concentrate on picking up my cadence but my HR would not respond. Andrew and Ginny were great out on the course with their support and trying to whip me along, but for the first 4K I felt like I was running in sand, just going nowhere. Coming up to the second lap I was running behind another guy in my AG trying to hang on and Andrew shouted to lengthen my stride and finally I felt like I was going somewhere. I pulled away from the guy who had run up to me and my HR finally pushed up. First lap average cadence 91, second lap 90. Lap 1 - HR 162, Lap 2 -  HR 168. Time well...2007 40.42, 2009 41.08, 2010 - 41.56.
Final result - 2.10.38, good for 5th in my AG. (2007- 2.08.24, 2009- 2.09.26)
So, for not having the best preparation I was pretty happy with the result, although a bit disappointed not to meet my season goal of a sub 40 run and a course PR. Gives me plenty of fuel to motivate me for  a full year of learning to be a runner!
Congratulations to Jeff and Ian for their races, to Chris for a scorching sprint time and a really big thank you to Andrew, Ginny and the supporters out on course.

[IanC]

I tried the Kelowna Apple race also, and had blast.  It is so much fun doing a local race and getting cheered on through the whole course.

I haven't done an Olympic distance triathlon in years and have done maybe two runs the whole year, the first one being the Penticton sprint tri about a month ago.  So I really wasn't sure what to expect.

I lined up at the front of the swim for the heck of it and charged out when the horn went off.  I ended up finding a good set of feet for the second lap and had a decent swim of 22:22.  I don't have anything to compare it to, but pretty happy with it.  On to the slowest transition ever!

The bike leg was super fun and a pass-fest.  There were so many people on the course that it was like some sort of video game, slaloming through people.  You could ride up behind people in their draft and then slingshot past them into the next persons draft.  Thanks to Steve for his fancy wheelset and aero helmet!  My bike time was 1:03:43 for a 37.7km/hr avg.  I was chasing the 40km/hr time, but not quite.  One cool thing was the electronic speed sign on Clement read 45km/hr when I went through.

On to the run, where I just tried to maintain a steady pace.  There were lots of people cheering, so that helped.  Andrew, Ginny and Chris were out there screaming their heads off as well as my wife and friends.  Good times!  I ran a 41:17 for the 10km and flet pretty good for the majority of the race.  I thought my quads were going to cramp at about 3km, but that went away again.  Whew!  I have some nasty blisters on my feet from running with no socks in trail runners though.  Stupid mountain biker!

I didn't wear a HR monitor and just went as hard as I could for as long as I could and that worked out allright.  I didn't feel like I was slowing down too much by the end of the run, but I was sure glad when it was over! 

My final time was 2:10:00 which was good enough for 4th in my age group and 33rd over all.

[GinnySellars]

Careful Ian, you're going to piss people off with that kind of performance, not having focussed on triathlon this season. Only your history of running a 33min 10km, and swimming like a shark will justify this terrific ability. Sometimes lining up with no expectations and positive attitude brings out the best in us. Congratulations.

Martin, I'm impressed with your ability to line up and give it hell after a month of high stress. It probably felt good to work that hard and rid the mind of pressing issues for 2 hours and 10minutes!! You've done a pretty extensive analysis of your previous times in this event. The only thing you didn't mention was the wicked wind on the course. We were freezing standing still.

While watching Martin and Geoff running, it was great to see the quick cadence. What I noticed was the lack of a stride length and lack of float, and consequently no forward lean on the run. The cadence is the hardest thing to acquire and sustain over that distance. Next, I think working on functional strength throughout greater range of motion will bring out the speed. We have all winter to work on building that strength to push off our toes, lean forward, and higher kick. It's even harder as we get older, and injury is more prevalent. We need to get stronger, and build the ability to sustain eccentric loading. I'm looking forward to cross country running season to get in the trails and get strong.

Thanks for putting on a good show this weekend!!

[kiwichris]

My turn I suppose - I raced the sprint this year due to having to work all weekend being tech-support and running the expo - loads of stress and hours on my feet...........

Swim - lined up at the front and went for some high cadence to get me going - could not find decent feet at all and the chop was pretty difficult to breathe/sight in. Found some feet about 300m in but they started weaving all over the place - decided to go it alone and stay straight. The down wind section was cool - a bit of body surfing - I went a little off-track but recovered in time and posted a respectable time - 11:40. I pinned T1 (fastest overall!!!) and headed on to the bike.

Wind, wind, wind. Felt good straight away - got my resp rate under control and settled in to the pain zone!! I did not let up - passed a couple of people and got passed by 1 (in my age group) so pretty happy overall - just let my HR drift up over such a short race. Averaged 34km/hr for 35min split - felt good coming in to the run

Run - I had to catch 2 people that I could see - 1 was a young guy from Vernon - the other was the guy that passed me from my AG. It hurt for the first k, then I settled in again and focused on fast feet and controlled breathing (2 steps in/2 out). I caught the young guy and could see my AG leader in front so I continued to push - hamstrings felt a little crampy so had to relieve that before hitting the 3 k mark. The last 2 k was head up, stride long and finish fast - could not catch the young guy who passed me again - but finished running 20.01, My goal for the whole race was to run sub 20 - damn!!!

Finished in 1.08 and change - happy with the time and process - was good for winning my Age Group - YAY!!!!.

Thanks for reading -

Chris

[gwaterman]

I guess it's my turn!!

I had a good swim warm up for about 10 minutes, and got the position I wanted on the beach, far right with a straight line to the first bouy. The gun went off and I was smooth, I found some fast feet  right away and felt comfortable. The swim went as planned, 19:40, is some pretty good chop and controlled  breathing. 
Out on to dry land, I tried to hussle up to my bike, getting my wetsuit off was a challenge, I think the zipper got caught up in my racing suit, then as I got it off by my bike my left hamstring cramped up nice and tight. I didn't want to let this phase me so I spent the first 10 mins on the bike stretching it out taking in some fluids and a gel. My heart rate for the bike was right on target ~160.  I salvaged the bike ride and got my legs back on the 3rd loop and got my mind ready to run fast. I posted a 1:06:10. 
My running has been very promising lately. Through T2 I picked up my feet and tried to run under 40mins (which was my goal) The first 3km were tough but I found my stride for the final 7km. Just kept trying to build. I ended up running 41 mins and change, my heart rate was responsive and crept up as I was able to put more effort in, I felt like my breathing was controlled.  Now it’s just time to improve my technique and gain strength so I can lengthen the stride.  Next year watch out!!!!
I would really like to thank Chris and Ginny, Will from the Bike Barn, Mark Kildaw, Marc Nicmchuk, and my girlfriend Katie for being a big supporter of my training.
Is it time to ski?

GW

[Andrew]

Don't hang up the summer gear just yet...we are planning a BPR wrap-up party and a short TT to put the roadies head to head with the MTB crew form Kelowna...and then race the Xterra Kelowna race that was just announced for Sept 26th at McCollough Lake near Big White.

Plus there are the Revy Hill Climb, and Mt Baker race on Sept 12 to pick from, and a whole series of xc Runnign events in teh fall to keep us all in competition mode, and to help everyone work on their coordination and stride length...no rest for the wicked.

[PeterW]

Good work to the BPR crew out there on Sunday! Everyone had killer results.
I was kicking myself a little for not taking part in the full try. Seeing so many athletes out there really motivates you to race!
I took part in the Sprint Tri, on a corporate relay team. I did the bike! I went in with a goal to be sub 30min on the ride. I was close... maybe the headwind slowed up the times a bit. I finished a flat 31mins, which ended up being the fastest bike time for the whole sprint tri by about 2 mins. I was happy with that, as I'm not much of a time trialler... even though I didn't have to swim first like all the others! our team won the corporate cup, 14mins ahead of second! I think next year we should all go our individual ways!

Looking forward to the Xterra in September. My goal for the next couple weeks is to learn how to run! Best luck to everyone at IMC. I'll be along the course cheering you on!

[Andrew]

HOLY CRAP!!! 31 minutes on that course, with corners, and climbs and traffic...in that wind. No wonder I can't keep up with you on a MTB. It is gonna make for an interesting show down in the BPR TT CUP in September...bring your race wheels and your skin suit! Or give us roadies a chance and stick with the non-aero set up.