Squamish Tri (Relay)

As running has been an issue recently I decided to do a tri without running. I conned, ahem, convinced Barton to be my runner for the Squamish Tri, a race I've wanted to come back to since first doing it in 2006.

Swim
31:19 min

Do you ever find yourself wondering what happened to all the heads crazy people who died in the '80's had cryogenically frozen? Are there still freezers somewhere full of headsicles or have they quietly been dumped while no one was looking? It's an interesting question, however if you find yourself wondering this in the midst of a triathlon swim you probably aren't as focused as you should be.

The relay wave was a pain. It was hard to find a draft in the small group and, as we went last, we had to navigate through the slowpokes in the previous waves. Once I stopped pondering cryogenics, I ended up using the slowpokes to my advantage in the second half as every time I sighted I'd find a swimmer from the previous wave and tried to pass them by the next time I looked. I went off course due to brainlessness (tried to swim to the wrong buoy on the return leg) but nothing major.

Bike
1:18:38 (including T1 & T2)

The bike is an 8km loop that you do four times - it's crowded, in places it's narrow and there are four 90 degree turns. There is one long steep climb and some fun stuff like train tracks that were seriously jarring to cross. Definitely a technical course, which played to a lot of my weaknesses, I'm nervous going around tight corners with people barrelling down behind me and I didn't want to be an ass and overtake right before the corners then jam on the brakes while turning, especially as there were some seriously squirelly cyclists, so I lost a lot of time on three of the corners (x 4 = 12 big slow downs).

On the first lap my legs felt dead and sore, second lap was a little better, by the third lap I hit a rhythm and I had fun cranking up the hill all out on the last lap, repeating my mantra "I don't have to run. I don't have to run."

A major stress was that my bike computer doesn't really work anymore, according to the Sigma I'd only gone 33km when I finished the bike, and counting was proving to be mentally taxing. I really didn't want to miss a lap and get us DQ'd.

Run
50:51

Barton was not a fan of the run course but set a PR on a course that most people seemed to find challenging and most people seemed to have slower than average runs. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Post Race
It was fun hanging out at the finish and catching the fast guys crossing the line. And seeing the confusion on the LETC boys' faces as they saw me there! (Immediate post-race brain - didn't consider DNF or relay, just "Alison beat me??")

Very impressive showing by LETC - lots of podiums and Natasha and Doneen did their first ever oly.

Canada Day!

I managed to cram quite alot into my day off yesterday.

Part 1 - VOWSA Canada 2km Swim
2008 time - 40:02
2009 time - 40:06

I felt like I was flying on the swim this year, I even drafted the whole way, but did pretty much the same time as last year. I'm taking this as further confirmation that my swim improvements in the pool are entirely due to improving my kicking off the wall skills!

After the swim I spent time with the LETC folk and, for yet another year, didn't win a draw prize.

I was surprised to bump into Jed, someone I played ultimate with and against for years. He was volunteering and we had a good chat and a bit of a catch up session.

Part 2 - Crazy bike repeats
We brought our bikes so Teresa and I headed out (sans everyone else as I managed to waste enough time they left without us) and did the evil "Belcarra Loop."

For EBL you head to the Belcarra Picnic Area, go to the end of the parking lot, turn right onto Bedwell Bay Road then back to the road at the base of the hill heading back to Belcarra. There is only one long hill but the short hills are evilly steep to climb, as in stand on your pedals and hope you don't have to get off your bike and walk level of steep, then it's twisty enough on the way down that getting too much speed is nerve wracking as there are lots of blind corners.

My program said 6 loops but as the loops were taking me 20min I decided that Alan didn't mean for me to do a 2+ hour intensity workout and Teresa and I stopped after 4. The traffic was also increasingly nuts as the day went on - picnickers headed for Sasamat and Belcarra were parking on every available piece of shoulder and being fairly oblivious to cyclists. By the time we got back to the car to load the bikes we had no desire to fight our way through the crowds to cool off in the lake, we couldn't get away fast enough.

Part 3 - Yaletown Grand Prix
At home I had a quick shower and lunch then headed out to meet up with the LETC folk and watch the Yaletown Grand Prix criterion and running races. The crit's were fun to watch - lots super fast cycling action, although the men's pro race was a blow out as two guys lapped almost the entire field.

Two women from our club were in the elite women's running race and they blew the rest of the field away, taking 1st and 2nd. It's hard to cheer when it's neck and neck you you want both people involved to win! Tall Dave was in the men's race and I saw my second random/misplaced-ulti-player of the day as Vince was in the race too. He did a double take as he heard me yell his name, not sure if he knew who I was.

Cheering for Rachel & Martina in the women's elite/pro (I think) bike race was fun too. Luckily for us Rachel was in pink and yellow and therefore easy to spot - you don't have much time to catch people as they whiz by. Martina got lapped out of the race but as she'd hit the podium in the two previous races she done that day I'm thinking she could consider it a good day of racing!

The End
By the time I got home I was pooped - super early morning, a race, a hard workout, then standing around in the sun with not hat and yelling loudly can take a lot out of you!

Used Sigma Bike Computer for Sale - 80% Off Original Price

I'll take chocolate in lieu of cash.

Special Edition 80% Bike Computer

In an attempt to see the world in a positive light I've decided to come up with upsides about my bike computer.

My wireless bike computer has all the functions of the regular version. YES! 80% of the time it will display speed, distance, cadence, average speed, etc. What this special edition has that others lack, however, is that 20% of the time it displays nothing. Yes, nothing. And for no dsicernable reason.

Now, you may be asking yourself - why this is a good thing? How would this benefit my training? Well, let me tell you.

The Special Edition 80% Bike Computer offers the following fantastic benefits:

• Vigilence - We all know how important it is to be alert while riding. The fact that the SE 80% bike computer stops working on a completely random basis means you need to exercise constant vigilence if you want reasonably accurate data.
• Excitement - Add the element of surprise and excitement to your rides! Will it be working next time you look? Will you have an accurate record of your ride? With the SE 80% you never know!
• Heart rate management - Have trouble keeping your HR up? With the SE 80% you'll be in a state of constant frustration, helping to keep that ticker going at just the right speed.
• Freedom from boredom - Long rides can get tedious and you can run out of things to think and/or talk about. With the SE 80%, when you are 3 (or is it 4?) hours into your 6 hour ride you can occupy your mind by contemplating creative ways to destroy this useless piece of $#!&!
• Maintain your bike - Keeping your machine in good working order is important. SE 80% components frequently fall off or readjust while in transit, encouraging you to thoroughly check your bike before, after, and often during, every ride.
• Stimulate the economy - In these tough times, every dollar you spend is helping your fellow man/woman. The SE 80% helps you stimulate the economy - because it's wireless there are 3 batteries to replace, not 1 like in some econo-unfriendly types, allowing you to contribute THREE TIMES MORE to the economy. Plus, the fact that parts sometimes drop off means you get to invest more money by replacing them. SE 80% - the philanthropist's choice!
• Time-saving for crazy people - Are you an anthropomorphizer? Do you like co-dependent relationships? Are you tired of wasting time cultivating these psychoses separately? With the SE 80% you can enjoy the best of both worlds at the same time! Give the SE 80% a name and personality and when it stops working assume he/she hates you and wonder what you ever did to deserve it. Then when he/she starts working again, just as you are about to dump him/her and switch to a Cat Eye, realize that he/she really does love you and you were meant for each other.

Random Saturday Thoughts

I met with the crew this morning at Bean around the world with the intent of going up Cypress, or as far as my lungs would let me go. I made it almost to the top of 15th Street in West Van then decided a flatter ride would be smarter.

Riding alone left me lots of time to think. Luckily I'm generally entertained by what goes on in my own head so I wasn't bored. I have my Walter Mitty moments - envisioning how I save the universe through judicious application of my towering intellect, spectacular super-powers and awe-inspiring mastery of kung fu - but generally I just let my mind wander.

Some random thoughts that occurred to me on my ride, brick run and farmers' market shopping (a brick shop?):

• What's the point of meeting at a coffee shop if you're there before it opens? And what self-respecting coffee shop opens after 7?
• Stressing about things you can't change is a waste of time. Better to figure out how to deal with them and move on.
• Thinking that those people/that person wouldn't be passing you if your lungs weren't acting up is also a waste of time. And really, who cares?
• I've lost that cynical feeling I had at the begining of the week. The glass is half full again.
• Could we have some sort of rule where the folks who train in crappy weather get right of way on sunny days when all the fairweather folk deem it nice enough outside for them to block the roads??
• I need to but a new bike computer (ride time = 3:?? hours, current speed = ???)
• I'm happy to run 5 minutes at pace but I have no idea what my pace currently is.
• I am thrilled at the success of the Trout Lake farmers' market. I just wish there were less people there! (Can we apply the weather rule again?)
• Shopping while hungry is a bad idea (lots of sweet stuff came home with me).
• At farmers' markets I try to suss out who the regulars are, stand behind them in line, then figure out what I'm in line for. The people behind me in the bakery line got all stressed that the "Market Bread" was going quickly so I bought some. I didn't buy it to be a jerk (there was lots left, btw) but because I had to see if it was worth lining up for. It was indeed, I'll be back!
• I will have to remember to use the simile "Stinkier than a garbage can at a dog park on a hot day." I guess it's good to know the Trout Lake dog beach users clean up after their canines.
• Eating a huge lunch, reading my book and drinking coffee #2 (#1 is pre-ride) is an awesome way to spend the afternoon.