My Kona 2015 Interviews (SRAM, Quarq, Stryd, Goodyear, PowerTap)

Kona 2015: Queen K ride with SRAM and Quarq

Stryd – The Power Meter for Running

Kona 2015: A chat with Cullen Goodyear

A chat with PowerTap’s Justin Henkel

Kona 2015 - My 24th and Final Ironman

My journey in triathlon started by watching Julie Moss crawling across the Kona finish line in 1982, and it's only fitting that my Ironman journey ends on these same hallowed grounds.  

It certainly wasn't my best race ever, but it was by far the best experience I've ever had at an Ironman. 

Going into this 24th and final Ironman, I was not expecting much in terms of performance. It's been an injury plagued year, but when you get a ticket to Kona, you don't pass it up.

I was all set to train hard, and I had all my coaching lined up to make this final Ironman a great one. However, my right shoulder (which has dislocated often at recent Ironman swims) is at it's all time worst (you can hear my shoulder making crunching noises each time I rotate my shoulder). And my arthritic foot that doesn't allow me to do runs longer than 90 minutes. Normally, I'd be racing 8-10 duathlons during the summer but I shut down all running after the Gravenhurst Duathlon where that run was super painful. I just raced a bunch Swim/Bike events, and saved the running for Ironman Mont-Tremblant and Kona. So the preparation for this was far from ideal. Not being able to race like I want to is big reason why I decided to close the book of this Ironman chapter in my life, but to also dedicate more time to my daughter as she hits her key formative years.

So with those parameters, the goal was simply to finish and enjoy the whole Kona experience. I estimated I was in 13.5 hr shape, but Kona is a different animal, and I knew the conditions would not be favourable to me, but I'd give it my best shot. 

Race Morning

Got up at 4am, had 2 tasty Bonk Breaker Salted Caramel Bars (it came in the race goody bag so why not), some water and sports drink. Then changed into my gear - so much easier not to worry about carrying around a wetsuit. Just before heading out the door, my daughter woke up and said she wanted to give me a hug to "pass on her energy to me to use for the race."  How about that to start your day? My father in law drove me over to grab the athlete shuttle into town (that way he could head back home and chill out for a bit before heading into town the the rest of the crew. The shuttle dropped us off at the Ironman Village/Expo area and from there I made the walk to the pier. This was a nice way to burn off some nervous energy. I must admit that I felt like it was my first one all over again as I sat on that shuttle. I took that as a good sign. I was calm but excited to start the day. 

It is quite the operation at Kona. You are funnelled around the King Kam Hotel with the first stop being body marking. With lots of volunteers ready to place the race tattoo numbers on you. From there it is the weigh in, and then off to transition to do final bike and transition bag prep. Of note is the fact that you are provided with an escort to get to your transition bags. It only makes sense as it eliminates the opportunity for someone to tamper with your bag whether intentional or not. The day before, the same applied when doing bike drop off. 

After taking care of some bike business and to drop off my chilled itsthenerve (Check the link to find out more about the product. It's a new way to help athletes with cramping issues and I've been a test subject for a few months. Kona conditions tend to stimulate cramping for me so I was glad have it available to me) bottles in my bags, I headed over to the King Kam beach area to prep for the swim. Dropped off my Pre-swim bag (after the volunteer reminded me I still had flip flops on), then went over to the pier to check out the swim start. 

SWIM (2.4 miles/3.86km):

I watched the pros go off, which was pretty cool to experience it in person and not while watching it online or the NBC broadcast. The anthem, traditional Hawaiian blessing, Red Bull parachutists driving down from the sky, and of course the blast of the start cannon. The atmosphere built right to the age group men start at 6:55 am.

I had a bottle of #itsthenerve right after the pro women went off at 6:30am - I cramped while getting out of the water after a practice swim earlier in the week, and the product representatives suggested a dosing schedule for me to follow, starting with that first bottle 30 minutes prior to my swim start.

I applied Vaseline to my underarms (to prevent chaffing), then made my way down to the water. I must say, Kona is probably the safest swim you'll ever do. The course is blanketed with water safety crew the entire way - no so excuses Lindsay :)  I started at the back, the cannon went off and so did I. I swam easy and solid for the first half, I made the turn to head back home at 47 minutes. This is slow for me but given my shoulder deterioration over the past year, I was gladly accepting that. However, soon afterwards, my right shoulder blew apart and I could not muster up any propulsion from that side. It was painful before, but even more so now. 

From that point on, I swam one armed the rest of the way. Man is it so much fun to do one armed drills for close to half of the ironman swim :) My left shoulder wasn't liking it that much either, especially with an unfavourable current that was making things a bit more challenging on the way back. 

I glanced at my watch an knew it would be my slowest swim ever, so once I reached the pier, I tried to enjoy and remember that final stretch as much as I could before making the exit and up those steps into transition. 

With an epically slow 1:57 and change, I walked up the stairs and sucked in the moment I've seen many times on tv, knowing I'd never do it again. It hosed off all the salt water at the rinsing station, realizing that my tongue and lips were shrivelled and wrinkled from being in the salt water for so long. And not to be gross, but to be helpful, you might want to consider applying Vaseline to your "rear", that can get all affected by the salt water too. It bugged me all day and post race. 

Mostly straight, but also mostly slow. The positive - no more Ironman swims for me. Yahoo!

T1:

Made a full change. I swam in Tri shorts, so I took that off and put on my Ignition Fitness Tri top, cycling shorts, cooling arm sleeves, socks, HR monitor, cycling shoes, and made the long run around transition to get my bike. It's all carpeted so it does not beat of the cleats of your cycling shoes. No surprise, with my stellar swim, my bike was the last one on the 45-49 rack. 

BIKE (112 miles/180km):

Aside from a few brief test rides, this was my first ride on the QR PR5, which Quintana Roo provided for me and saved me from the hassle of packing, unpacking, and shipping. You can do the same with their rental program. The PR5 is a great bike, it's just too bad I wasn't able to take full advantage of it. 

I rode an easy and controlled effort. It was already smoking hot and I drank all of my fluids (aero bottle and bottle on my downtube) by the 10 mile mark. 

Thanks to sponsor and new Ignition Fitness partner PowerTap, and Product Manager (Justin Henkel) in particular, for getting the new and high in demand PowerTap P1 pedals pedals to me a few days before the race (easiest setup ever), I planned to ride an easy and manageable 155-165w. I put them to good use until the cramps began.

My first hurdle of the day was a flat tire at just before the 50km mark. I actually rode with it for a while, thinking I could make it to the next aid station, but I was just pushing too hard and going nowhere. So I pulled off to the side, and got the front wheel off and got on with changing the tube. I got everything going and was ready to do a final check of the tire when tech support drove up. He asked if I checked the tire for any cuts and as he did, he found a piece of metal embedded into the tire. He then told me to pack up my repair kit, have a drink and he'll take care of the rest. It made for a convenient time to have a second bottle of itsthenerve.

At each aid station, I refilled on Orange Gatorade Endurance (I decided to use the on course nutrition rather than my usual own preferred formulation), sipped on water and used the water to douse my arm sleeves to keep cool, along with dumping it all over my head, front and back. I also picked up GU Gels, and chews along the way. I periodically stopped off to get some cold Red Bull and mixed some in with the Gatorade in the aero bottle for some extra kick. 

As expected the ride along the Queen K is not particularly tough on the way out. The only real challenge is the heat and wind and making sure you are managing the effort so you can get through the later part of the ride and then the marathon. 

The ride up to Hawi is a kicker and where the fun begins. It seems never ending and just keeps going up and the headwinds pick up during this section. The positive, is that you'll be flying back down all that climbing but will have to deal with those legendary crosswinds. Thanks to the slow swim and flat delay, I was heading out to Hawi in some serious heat.

I pulled off at the last aid station before Hawi and had my third bottle of #itsthenerve, with the heat and sweat rate increasing, I could sense some cramping coming on if I didn't moderate my effort and take care of my nutrition. It was crazy hot, with breathing being quite a chore and even a bit painful with the sensation of my ribs digging into my sides. The awesome volunteers hooked me up with , Red Bull, cold water to pour all over me, and one insisted I have some Gu Chews for energy and did a dance to show what it was doing for her all day. Quite funny and lifted my spirits.  

It was such a tough slog to get to Hawi with all that climbing, wind and heat. So close, yet seemed so far. 10 miles seemed like forever. But I knew on the way back, I'd be flying with the wind at my back and all that downhill. But this is where you encounter the crosswinds too, so I was careful to not just carelessly fly down at top speed. I took the time to stretch and shake out the legs. However, to no avail, after finishing the downhill the cramps attacked in relentless fashion.

The first cramp came at 104 km, then I had some more at 109, 142, 150, and 155km. With each cramp, I one legged pedalled until that side cramped too (or until the other leg cramped so hard that it was unsafe to keep going) and then dismounted to shake the legs out, stretch, and take some backup salt tablets I had stashed just in case the #itsthenerve didn't work. Plus, I only packed two bottles if #itsthenerve for a planned dosage of one bottle at 60km and another at 120 km. 

The headwinds heading back to Kailua were horrible. That's the problem when you clock a slow swim time, and have some difficulties on the bike. You get caught in the windier conditions heading back home and into those wonderful steady inclines and building headwinds. The pros don't face these conditions plus they are faster (lucky buggers), but the mid to back of the packers get slammed. I feel for those older athletes like Lew Hollander.

The cramps also put a halt to my wattage goals. Maintaining even 155w was hiking heart rate and would bring on cramping so it was simply a ride easy plan to make sure they wouldn't come back. I developed a bit of camaraderie with the whole group I was riding with. I'd cramp, get off my bike, they'd come by and ask if I was ok, then I'd recover, re-pass, and meet up at the next aid station where we'd all stop and douse ourselves with ice water to get cool in the searing heat of the day - record heat for this race and it was like an oven all week. The volunteers were prepared for us and were quite awesome all day. Plus, they all thought I was a local boy so I got extra special treatment. With the flat, aid station stops, and cramps, my Garmin indicated close to 45 minutes of stop time. I clearly was not breaking any records today.

I managed to cheer on a few athletes on the run, while riding back into town, like the great Jim Sunners. He is a true inspiration for every age grouper. The guy kicks butt at the age of 53 and he's just keeps getting faster. 

T2:

Dismounted and a volunteer took my bike away. I took off my cycling shoes and ran in my socks on the carpeted surface and right into transition. 

There were not much dudes in the change tent by the time I got there. And I had one on one service from one of the volunteers - these guys were there from when we got out of the swim and now at the end of the bike. Talk about dedication and they were incredible as well. 

I immediately opened my bag and drank a bottle of #itsthenerve. It has a peppery and slight burning sensation when you drink it (the cayenne pepper) so it's good to have it get into the system while you are doing other stuff so it is settled by the time you are ready to run. All was going well until it was time to put on my socks. As I put on socks on my right side, my left side began to cramp. But with some modifications (Like not bending over so much or straightening it out) I could keep them away. The volunteer asked if I wanted to get medical over to massage it out but I said no and that I would be fine. However, as soon as I tried putting on my left sock, a major cramp hit and the volunteer ran off to flag down medical staff. Meanwhile, he gave me a cool cup of Lemon Lime Gatorade Endurance to drink immediately, and one filled with ice cubes to sip on. At that point, I drank another bottle of #itsthenerve (my fifth of the day) which I was saving for the 10 mile mark of the run. It clearly didn't work for me throughout the day, but I figured I might was well drink that last one so I can provide detailed feedback to the makers of the product.

A doctor came over and did some ART on me for 10 minutes and got the cramp right out of there. I could bring them back on with certain positions, but I said I'd be okay and that I better get going since this could very well be a long marathon and I'd need all the time I could get. I quick lube of all chaffable parts, some sunscreen, and I was on my way after a 20 minute pit stop. Maybe I should have had a sandwich and fries while there eh?

RUN (26.2 miles/42.2km):

I ran easy and got into a groove. With all those people out there on Ali'i Drive, I am glad I was able to run steady and not suffer a major crampfest in front of them. 

I took in a steady diet of Coke, Red Bull with ice (sucking on the ice cubes the whole way to get in some water), gels and chews. The run felt easy, and I was managing my foot with 1 minute walk breaks every 10 minutes. At that point I was even thinking I'd be able to run in the 4:50 range after such a horrible rest of the day. But with my lack of long runs, knew that the wheels could come off at any time. I could feel that point coming on just before the climb up Palani, and I tried to stave them off by rubbing my thighs and hamstrings with ice for the two aid stations leading into it. 

I've seen that famous Palani climb year after year and I was not going to walk it. Once I got there, I ran up that sucker. Not like Jan Frodeno or Jeff Symonds to be sure, but a run nonetheless. Once I got out of town, I soon realized how darn tough this run is, and the pros are running this blistering fast in the severe heat. I've got a new appreciation for them. It's a mostly gradual steady grade right out to the Energy Lab. Even in the desolate darkness of night, it was still hot out there and I was thankful I was not running it in the full heat of the day. A lot of the athletes were prepared and running with headlamps. I was not expecting to be out there that late so I was the invisible man all in black, until I got my glow stick upon exiting the energy lab. 

My quads were seizing up, and my right foot pain kicked in so it was mostly a walkfest until the Energy Lab. I also had a goal to run that epic section so I saved up an effort for that and gave it a go. Not the same vibe as the daytime but a unique one at night where it's pitch black and all you can see are lights off in the distance and athlete headlamps.

I did a mix of run/walk (mostly walk when the quads screamed at me and punching them and saying "shut up legs" no longer worked). With 5km to go, I started feeling decent again and started "running", I decided to save a bit of energy once I hit that final incline before the Palani downhill, and once I hit the top of that (roughly 1 mile to go), I let it fly. I finished with a 10:50/mile (my fastest mile of the day - that says it all right there, but it felt like I was running a 6 minute mile). All the crowd support and cheering felt awesome, and I sucked in all of the final section along Ali'i. I high fived everyone I could coming down that finish chute (one of those being my wife although I didn't know it at the time) and once I crossed the finish line I jumped and yelled out with joy, and soon after shook the hand of Mike Reilly. A perfect ending and at approximately the same point where I got inspired to get into this sport by Julie Moss back in 1982.

Post-race:

A couple of volunteers soon grabbed me and put a lei on me, wrapped me in a towel, and walked me to the finish area behind the King Kam. I told them I'd be fine on my own, and continued on to get my finisher shirt, hat and medal. Which they had organized by bib number. Where upon checking in, you'd get your morning clothes bag and a bag with the finisher swag. Once again a smooth and first class operation.

Food was next if you were so inclined. Pizza, ice cream, chocolate milk, pulled pork sliders, and fries. 

Massages were available too but I was fortunate that my wife was crafty enough to get back to me and we got my transition bags quickly to get out of there (she already picked up my bike earlier and got it back to QR, saving us from doing so the next morning). So a smart tip would be to establish a meeting point with your family post race. Or you can pack your cell phone in your morning clothes bag if you feel good with that. I didn't and left it at home. I also had use of the Time One GPS+ where I could text from the device so I didn't really need it. I also made use of it so my family and friends could track me live throughout the run and send message -- Thanks for all those notes of encouragement, it was all read by me but I could not reply at the time. Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes before the event too. Much appreciated.

Final Notes:

It would be easy to be disappointed with my finish time but I was grateful and thankful for the opportunity to race at this esteemed event, and just having seen first hand and to be inspired by people like Hector Picard, Alex Zanardi, Lew Hollander, and many others in this event and many others around the world, I have deep gratitude for having the ability to get out there to complete this race. There are a lot more things to life than a crappy finish time. 

Lew Hollander and I hanging out pre-race. He is an interesting guy and still more than with it at 85 years of age.

If you've race Ironman before, you know how these things can go. You try to show up on the start line as well prepared as possible, and try to get through those inevitable rough patches as best as you can. There is no guarantee that you'll finish an Ironman. There are so many things that can happen. Injuries, technical and equipment issues, medical intervention, accidents, or even just making it to the start line. There were any few times during the race I doubted that a finish would be possible. But I am not one to quit a race, and especially not Kona. Pride might make it tempting to bail because the day was not going according to expectations and what people might think, but for me pride kept me going. I wanted to respect my position on the start line and the thousands of triathletes that would love the opportunity to race here.

I wanted to enjoy the entire Kona experience because I knew it would be my last and I knew my body was not ready to throw down a fast time. But as I said earlier, you show up on the start line as best you can and play whatever cards you've got. I did that.

I had an incredible 2 weeks in Kona with my family and I will be forever embedded in my memory. Having the opportunity to share all of this with them was more valuable than anything and all of the post-race time made for the perfect end to my 24th and final Ironman.

I am truly blessed to have a super supportive and loving wife and daughter. Unfortunately for them, the end of Ironman racing means they will see more of me. No more long training days or Daddy putting in hours of trainer time in the basement. It's now my daughter's time, who knows, maybe I've planted the seed for her to aspire to race in Kona too someday. Major thanks goes out to the greatest in-laws that you can possibly have. They've always been supportive, and once they found out I was going to Kona, they did not hesitate to make plans to be there. Thanks to my parents for holding down the fort at home while we were away.

I wish all of my triathlon pals could have been here in Kona. It was truly a mind blowing experience and you would love it. I hope you all have the chance to experience it. It really does live up to the hype. The race is first class all the way, and all of the activities surrounding the race are not to be missed. Thanks to all of you who sent messages prior to and after the race. It meant a great deal to me and I won't forget any of them. I am privileged to have such great friends and supporters.

As I stated, this will be my last Ironman. Unless of course, my daughter wants to do one. Only that would top this experience. Luckily, I have 14+ years to prepare for that one if it happens.

You can look up the all the race stats if you want, but there is nothing much to look at. For me, it was all about the finish. 

This note by the knowledgeable, classy, and simply great guy, John Salt, hit the mark and my heart. Thanks again John.

"Ironman on race day is a crap shoot at the best of times, what with weather, nutrition or mechanicals all playing a part. Some people may look at an athlete's time and wonder what happened. I see a time being posted by a tough and smart competitor who went into his race having been injured for much of the most important of training and still being ready to take on this beast of a race because of his dream. It looks like you had an incredibly tough day and you should be proud of staying in there and giving it everything you had. I am proud of you Roger!"

Thanks for reading this far. Here is a bit more, as the purpose of this post is to both tell you what happened out there, and to provide some useful information for your own racing.

Some advice if you are going to Kona for the Ironman:

Get in some swims from Dig Me Beach. Any time of day is fine, but early mornings is where you can do some people watching and where most show up. The Gatorade Bag Check is there too until 9am. 

Do the Underpants Run. Don't be a spectator. It is a lot of fun and get the whole family to join you.

If you've got kids, make sure they do the Ironkids race. $10 for a great race and race kit well worth more than that or even better than most race kits offer adults. 

March in the Parade of Nations. It was a great experience and I got to march and represent Canada with fellow Raptor fan Jeff Symonds who had an epic race day of his own. If he can march in the parade and still run 2:50 on race day even after one legged pedaling for 30km due to a broken crank, you can march in the parade too. He will win Kona one day. He is a great guy and tough as nails.

The Expo is a bit of a walk from the pier but it's well worth going to. A nice selection of vendors and lots of giveaways and deals. I picked up my race kit and went there afterwards. It was stuffed by the time I got out of there. 

If you like raw fish, eat lots of poke. I've got lots of restaurant recommendations too for both poke and other type of food.

Visit the other parts of the island. There are lots of places to discover like Volcanoes National Park, Hilo, etc.

If you are serious about performing well here, come to Kona to train on the course in the heat and wind. Or get in some similar training at another location if you can't get here. Even then, nothing is like Kona.

I've definitely made a bunch of mental notes about every aspect of that course. I plan to share that info to the athletes I coach and the rest of the Ignition Fitness crew who I know will get there someday.

I've used my Ironman racing to raise money for charity in the past, and did so again this but without soliciting anyone. Just my own personal challenge. But now, I'll make you aware of Kiva. With this organization, you can lend people around the world, money that they need and will pay back to you so you can then fund another person in need. Your investment just keeps helping people over and over again. Do me a favour and check it out.

Thanks to my sponsors Running Free, QR/Litespeed - both have been there since 2006, PowerTap, Honeymaxx, and of course my great partners at Ignition Fitness.

Tommy and Paolina threw me a Kona party a few weeks before I headed off and this trophy I received from Tommy's daughter will be right there with the rest of my Kona paraphernalia. I felt like a winner before I even got on the plane.

Tommy and Paolina are the best in every way, and I look forward to achieving bigger and better things with them at Ignition Fitness as we continue to take our athletes to the next level.

A year of Swim/Bike & Relays

After my duathlon in Gravenhurst, the rest of the year was all about managing my foot injury, and since I love racing, I was relegated to Swim/Bike races, and relays where I could team up with friends to run for me. The only running I'd do would be for Ironman Mont-Tremblant and Kona. I'd find a way to dig deep and endure the pain of running for those two events. This was a great way for me to get in some swims too, since I was not doing much of that either due to my wonky shoulder.

Here is a brief rundown of the results from the 2015 season.

Bala Falls Swim/Bike - Sunday July 26, 2015

750m Swim - 15:42 (2:05/100m sleeveless wetsuit)

30 km Bike - 49:15 (36.55km/hr best bike)

Total - 1:06:18.1 - First Overall

I started the bike in 6th, and rode strong to first. I finally got my Garmin pedals working properly, but now the issue was that some muck got into my cleats and I could not clip into my pedals. So I essentially rode the entire way just mashing down on the pedals. No pulling up on the pedals today. So those power stats would be incorrect too.

Kingston Long Course Swim/Bike - Sunday August 2, 2015

2 km Swim - 47:33 (2:22/100m)

56.2 km Bike - 1:35:32 (35.3 km/hr - second fastest bike)

Total: 2:25:08.6 - 5th overall, 2nd Men 40+

Had a challenging swim in the choppy St. Lawrence (but I considered that to be good prep for Kona). I started the bike in 10th and rode strong to get into 5th overall. It was also super cool to be racing with 4 athletes that I coach. Congrats to Caroline, Leah, Susan, and Doug, who all had great races.

Bracebridge Olympic Swim/Bike - Sunday August 9, 2015

Thanks to the great Bob Hatcher for capturing this pic. What a sneaky guy :)

1.5 km Swim - 33:27 (2:13/100m)

42km Bike - 1:11:18 (35.35km/h second best bike)

Total - 1:46:22.1 (3rd overall, second among men 40+)

Started the bike in 11th and rode into 3rd. Congrats to Darren on toughing out the run and claiming a spot to the 2016 World Duathlon championships

Toronto Island Sprint Duathlon Relay - Sunday August 22, 2015

Overall win with Jason Ng - second year in a row

5km Run - 19:51 3:58/km

20 km Bike - (31:26 38.18 km/hr)

2.5 km run - 11:56 4:46/km

Total- 1:04:41.8

Wasaga Beach Olympic Swim Bike - Saturday August 29, 2015

1.5 km Swim - 39:08  2:36/100m (terrible swim in crazy swells and my shoulder felt horrible)

Sharing a chuckle with John Salt about my horrible swim.

40 km Bike - 01:07:02  (35.81km/h second best bike)

Total - 1:48:18.9 - 4th among men 40+ (without such a bad swim it would have been a podium)

Started the bike in 17, rode to 7th overall.

GEORGINA Sprint Duathlon Relay 5/20/2.5

Did not finish. Thanks to crazy windy conditions, disc wheels were banned and I did not bring an extra set. My partner Troy did the first run and I had to break the news to him that I could not find someone to lend me a set. We will get them next year Troy. Congrats to Hong and Jason for getting 3rd.

Ironman #23 at Mont-Tremblant

The bike and racked and ready for race day


Short Version:
A foot injury put a halt to the amount of training I would have love to have dedicated to accomplishing a quality finish time, so this race was just a matter going easy and getting in a solid training day for my retirement Ironman to come in a few months from now at the Ironman World Championship. With the hopes my foot will be somewhat better then. I had an enjoyable day and it indicated to me that this Ironman journey does need to come to an end soon.

Longer version:
SWIM - 1:32:27
Yes, certainly not quick. But I'll take it. I did not swim all year until my race at the Welland Half Swim/Bike, and my 50 minute swim there let me know very quick that I needed to get into the water for some kind of training. My shoulders are not getting better with age, so as in previous years, swim training was all about shoulder management. In July, I got into the pool for some 2x per week sessions, and as I was doing swim/bike races, I saw some improvement and knew I could easily be in the low 1:30's and if the shoulders felt good and I put forth a bit of effort, into the 1:20's.

The swim this year at Tremblant was the roughest one I've been a part of in all my 3 times there, and made even more fun by the fog during the first half. It was impossible to see from one buoy to the next. Regardless, I swam with a feeling of calm and enjoyment, knowing that this would be my last Ironman swim in a wetsuit, and second last one ever.

Exiting the swim in my Running Free Run top (its a long run to T1)
T1 - 14:14
One look at this time and you'll know I was not in a rush. I took my time getting from the water to the change tent (barefoot running is a killer on my injured foot but I was fully styling with my Team Running Free top), then I decided to hit the porta-potty before heading out for the bike.

BIKE - 6:20:15
The QR Illicito did its part today for sure. I rode easy and still finished the first 90km of the bike in sub 3 hrs (approximately 2:57) with an average power of 147w - I am fairly certain that the low reading is due to my continuing Garmin Vector calibration issues. I particularly loved the "tough" back section of the course, and while the heat was starting to hit it's peak (30+ degrees) I felt good (probably due to the light effort).

I toyed with the idea of pushing the pace a bit to come in under 6 hrs but a stop at special needs, and two pee stops curtailed those thoughts. The first pee stop indicated that I better get in some more fluids in the system. I rode the back section strongly again, and finished the bike in 6:20:15 - however, I actually thought I rode it in 6:09, but forgot my bike computer had the automatic stop engaged so I did not factor in those two pee breaks. No big deal, no records were going to be set today anyway.

T2 - 13:26
More casual changing here. My foot was not in a happy place getting off the bike so I was stalling a bit. I made sure to check that my timing chip was around my ankle this year and off I went.  Just before exiting, a volunteer offered to rub me down with sunscreen and I obliged. A perfect application to the head too. Awesome!

RUN - 5:21:53
Nothing too mind blowing here. This was all all about foot maintenance. This meant that I planned regular intervals of walk breaks to make sure I could get through the entire run, and not just run til my foot blew up. There were various combinations of 2 and 1's, working right up to 20 and 1's. I just went with how the foot felt. The 24 and 35 km mark were particularly painful, but a bit of extended walking did the trick. I had a really good spell at the far turnaround and making my way back to the finish and just went with it and enjoyed the feeling. Plus, I was inspired by the fact that an athlete that I coached and was doing her first Ironman, looked to be running strong every time I saw her. You Rocked It out there Andrea! I was satisfied with the 5:21 given the fact that I couldn't do any runs longer than 90 minutes.

TOTAL: 13:42:15
Crossed the finish line, got my finisher medal, hat and t-shirt, and continued on to get some Sleeman beer and poutine - one of the many perks of this incredible race at Mont-Tremblant. This is arguably one of the top three places in the World to do an Ironman. You will not regret racing here if you haven’t done so already. After my post-race food and drink reward, I continued on to get a massage.

With my daughter passed out after a long day, I gathered all my gear bags, got my bike, did quick change and walked my stuff over to the handy Cabriolet gondola, and rode it up the mountain to my hotel at the top of the gondola.

After unpacking my gear, showering and changing. I found out that Andrea finished and shot over a quick text or email (don’t remember 100%) to congratulate her on such a strong Ironman debut. We did a lot of long rides together so it was great to see how her hard work paid off first hand - Are you ready for another Andrea? :)  I headed back out to catch my old Ironman partners (John and Angus) finish their day. I was concerned for my pal Angus, but he knows how to get himself across the finish line and did so with 20 minutes to spare. It was great to have them and their families here for the last Ironman the three of us will ever do together again. We’ve raced at least 10 of these Ironman races together and it was a great way to end it off with our kids racing and playing together.

My last two Duathlons of 2015

Belwood 2015 - Saturday July 11, 2015

The stats:
5 km Run - 25:57

30 km Bike - 52:10 (34.51km/h - 6th best bike)

5 km Run - 25:29 (negative split)

Total time - 1:45:46.1
16th overall, 4th among M45-49

The Story:
My foot was not in a happy place but with IMMT only 5 weeks away, I had to get in some running (which I had stopped after Woodstock) to let my foot heal. I wore a pair of Hoka's which allowed me to get as much cushion and reduce impact as much as possible. started

I ran easy and finished the run in 26th, I rode well last year (50:36) - finishing 6th overall. In my injured state, I was not expecting the same this year but wanted to use the race to get a good sense of where I was at. I had a solid ride to move myself into 12th, and even though the foot felt slightly better it was still painful but I managed to negative split the run (I love the run course at Belwood) but still got passed by 4 people to finish 16th - I really wasn't going to smash myself to finish a few spots higher and have to put my foot in a worse place.

Once again I had Garmin Vector pedal issues, so no power stats on the bike. Grrrr.



Gravenhurst Sprint Duathlon - Sunday July 18, 2015

The stats:

5 km Run - 26:23

20 km Bike - 32:58 (second fastest bike 36.4km/h)

Heading out for the chase.

Back from a successful ride.

2.5 km Run - 12:25

Total time - 1:13:54.7

10th overall, 2nd M45-49

The Story:
Finally a good race. IMMT was now 4 weeks away, but still not running, so this was my chance to unleash the run legs a bit. By the 1 km mark of the run, my right foot was done. I strongly considered ending the day right there and walking back. But I knew I was biking strong so I wanted to try out the new bike course. So continued plugging away and finished the run in 27th spot. Now it was time to do some passing.

The new course (due to construction on the old course) along Hwy 169 suited me perfectly. Steady grades and nice amounts of flats.

I whipped through the course with the second best bike split, averaging 36.4 km/hr). This allowed me to move into 9th. On the run, I checked out guys who might be my age who would be chasing me down and moderated my effort to the finish line. I could have claimed 9th but a woman ahead of me took a wrong turn heading into the park and went off-course. I shouted out and waited for her to get back and cruised into the finish (even though she sprinted to the line thinking I'd try to take her on.....no thanks).

I got 10th overall, and 2nd in my age group. Yeah! Finally, a podium finish for 2015. It was also my final Duathlon of 2015.

Sunday Fun and Updates to come

I've got some race updates to get up soon. Raced yesterday at Belwood and had another great day on the bike. My right foot issues have reappeared from 2 years ago so just cruising on the run. This should make for some interesting races for the rest of this year :) Until then, enjoy this:

Classic Tour De France prank (every cyclist's dream)

Posted by Bike Mag on Friday, July 3, 2015

Rose City Half Tri Relay 2015

For the past few years, I've used the Welland/Rose City Half Swim/Bike as my regular get ready for Ironman stop on the race calendar. I prefer to save my run suffering and digging deep for Ironman racing, and with my foot injury, that's even more the case. This time though, I recruited a pal (Hong) to do the run for me, and with the added challenge to give him a lead for him to try and stay away from another friend of ours, Sue.

Morning prep with my relay partner Hong.

2km Swim:

It was my first "real" swim since Ironman Mont-Tremblant (August of last year). And I say real swim, because I managed to slip in the water for 800m of swimming the week before at Woodstock. But my shoulders were on fire after 5 minutes.

The actual swim did not feel so bad. The shoulders felt tight, especially my left side, but I could sense that I was in the water way too long. Turns out I was, I came out in 50:59. Holy slowness! I can no longer get away with not swimming all year and showing up at an Ironman race and swimming in the 1:20's any more.

T1:
I took of my wetsuit just a few feet out of the water, where my relay partner Hong was. He was there with our buddy Wil and we joked of how horrible my swim time was and how I had some work to do to catch our pal Sue.

90km Bike:
With hardly any bikes left in transition (relays were in the last wave along with athletes 50+), I hopped on my QR Illicito and headed on my way. Knowing that I'd be doing a lot of passing out there.

I tried out the new Profile Design FC35 that I got from Running Free. I liked it except for the storage compartment for gels. I got to the mount line and one of my Clif Shot gels popped out. I put it back in but just a few feet down the road it popped out again, and soon after my second gel did too.

I managed to crank out a 2:29:29 (36.12 km/hr) bike split. I was certainly happy with that since I was not in any kind of bike shape due to being sick for the past few weeks and I still had a sore throat, and I was coughing and congested on race day.

Accelerating off the saddle after making a left turn and the final 25 km stretch back to Welland.
I was hoping to provide some power data, but this was my first race with the Garmin Vector pedals and it was clear that the calibration was off. I was pushing hard and my avg wattage was 160w. I knew from my heart rate and by the time and distance I was covering that it was not accurate so I simply hammered and tried reaching each km marker as fast as I could. The Illicito worked it's magic today as I was only a few minutes off last year's time, and I was in much better bike shape last year.

I was so stiff getting off the bike, and thank goodness I did not have to run afterwards. I am not sure that would have been possible unless I lay down for 10-15 minutes. Luckily, I didn't have to, my partner Hong took over the reins.

21.1 km Run:
Hong unfortunately got the bad weather, the rain started coming down a few minutes after he left and the rest of the day featured a constant downpour. Hong finished the run in 1:54:17

Our total time was 5:22:57. Placing us 6th overall so no podium thanks to my turtle-like swim.

With the messy weather, we went indoors to the arena, waited for Sue. She crushed her race in 5:06:49. She was the 8th fastest woman, and claimed second in her age group. Awesome! She has put in a tremendous amount of work and it is paying off.

Season opener at Woodstock

With my right foot acting up with sharp pains with every step, at stellar open to the 2015 season was not about to happen. If I had no race to do and had to do an training run, I'd would have selected to rest, recover, and take an off day. But of course, I headed down to Woodstock to race.

The Stats from my Garmin except for the total time (since race stats were missing all splits):

5km - 24:38 --- 168 bpm avg

- Considered pulling the plug at 1km. Every step elicited a sharp pain on the side of my right foot. But I kept at it and found a way to modify my stride to minimize the pain. 

T1 - 1:17

- Long run from the bike rack to the dismount line at Woodstock.

20 km Bike - 36:21, 169 avg hr, 194w avg, 210w NP

- Despite my 18 minute warm up, I did not feel right on the bike. The wind seem to come from every direction. This was my first ride on the Qr Illicito since August of last year and it took until the 7 km for my body to feel ready but once I got there, I ended with a decent ride. Not what I am capable of though.

T2 - 54:09

2.5 km run -12:10, 172 avg hr

- Less pain in the foot this time, but I wanted to get it over with asap so ran hard to close out the day.

Starting the final run

Total time: 1:05:05 - last year I did it in 1:16:07.

The highlight of the day: Darren Cooney just keeps getting faster. 9th last year and this year 3rd.

Oh yeah, a few hours after the race, I got into the lake for my first swim of the year. The first 10 minutes felt horrible. I thought my shoulders were going to fall out. But all felt better on the way back to the start. Thanks to the Cass family for swimming with me.

RIP Jimmie Georgas

I knew someday I'd have to write about this great man, but there is no way to really prepare for it.

Jimmie was a true legend in every way. As an athlete, and a top notch guy. I've got too many stories and that wouldn't scratch the surface of what Jimmie was all about or all the things he'd experienced.

Near the end of his racing career, I got to know Jimmie quite well. The last time I saw Jimmie, he invited me to his place for the weekend so we could hang out and so I could sleep over and have a quick and convenient drive over to Wasaga Beach to race. Unfortunately, my plans changed and I never raced and nor did he. Jimmie raced his last duathlon in 2008.

How crazy is it that I was cleaning up my home office last week and came across a letter and some pictures that Jimmie sent me via good old fashioned mail, and now this week I find out that Jimmie passed away on Monday.

I hope to write something more about Jimmie soon.

If you knew Jimmie and would like to leave a note of condolence, visit Jimmie's Book of Memories page.

Spring check in 2015

For all those who are still regularly checking in, thanks for doing so.

As I've said before in previous posts, I'll try to regularly blog but all the "extra" time I used to have to produce blogs, now go towards other things like dedicating time more time on the home front, helping my athletes at Ignition Fitness, and of course trying to fit in my own training, amongst a host of other things.

Here are a few things floating around in my mind that I wanted to make note of:

1. Ignition Fitness. We have an exciting year ahead and we have a great group of athletes at a variety of levels. My particular group is kicking tail already and we've still got most of the year to go. If you are interested in training for the Barrelman, we have an affordable program.

2. I am honoured to be back with Team Running Free for my ninth year. Running Free is the place to stock up on your shoes and gear. Owned and staffed by top drawer people too.

3. The Garmin 920xt is a near perfect device..........when it's working properly. I was all set to write a glowing review then after a month, the automatic wifi uploads stopped working (a huge reason why I got it), and with no wifi, you can't update the device. There is no apparent fix. There are a few solutions posted online --- it is a common problem, but none have worked for me. When things take a turn for the better, I'll write something. Aside from that issue though, it has a ton of features I love. Another big one of those is being able to use it every day as a watch and daily activity tracker (steps, sleep). You'd want to spend extra to get the HR monitor strap option. The strap allows you to run indoors without the use of a footpod, it track ground contact, etc. All the features are here.

Thanks to the demand of this new device, you can pick up the 910xt for cheap (as low as $150). Pick up one of those if you can get your hands on one. I had zero issues with that device. I just could not wear it as an everyday watch.

4. Octane Zero Runner. I used it exclusively during the winter and it saved me a ton of impact. It took almost one week to transition to running outside again to get used to all the impact/shock once again. But I noticed immediately that my flexibility improved. My run stride was complete (heels coming up and not just Ironman shuffling around), and my hamstring strength improved. I can definitely conclude that you can't 100% replace real running with the Zero Runner, but you can effectively mix it in with real running to help with recovery, and to get in some extra run movements without all the impact. With it being a new machine, there are a few growing pains. I had to replace the display on the console, there is a noise issue with the dampers (major moveable part of the machine). A full review to come. For now, a fellow Running Free teammate and very fast dude, Mike Bosch provides this demo.



5. Pacing - I just paced the Yonge St 10km and had a lot of fun. The Canada Running Series always puts on top notch events and this was no different. You should not hesitate to do any one of their events. Next up for pacing is the Goodlife Half Marathon.

6. Racing - I'll be very active with MultiSport Canada and Ironman. See you at the races.

7. Twitter. I am a lot more active on Twitter these days. It's a lot quicker and easier for me to share thoughts on there. Check out the banner on the right and follow.

That's all for now. I hope to check in again soon.

RIP Nubie!

I did a little tribute to my dog Bobo so it would not be right if I didn't do the same to my original triathlete named doggie Nubie (named after Paula Newby-Fraser). Both are legends in my mind. I knew this dog was special when at 3 months old we house trained her in less than one week. She was supremely intelligent and we will miss her.

Farewell Our Sweet Nubie

We lost a special friend today 

the kind you can't replace, 

and looking at her empty bed 

we still can see her face. 

We see the endless energy 

the sparkling puppy eyes, 

not the tired, fragile friend 

we had to bid goodbye.

We know she's in a special place 

our Lord has for such friends, 

where meadows, fields & flowers 

help make them strong and whole again.

We remember how she'd run to us

to greet us or play her favorite game, 

and how her ears would perk right up 

when she heard us call her name.

But as those precious years went by 

and we both aged and grew, 

we’d find her often slowing down 

but-we had still so much to do.

We’ve noticed in the recent times 

Her ears were not as sharp

There was a touch more white than black fur 

The years have shown their mark.

She started sleeping on the floor more and more

was this her special clue? 

Because she felt the end was near, 

we only wish we knew.

Our Nubie was a special loving dog 

we know she gave her best, 

but as we looked deep into her eyes 

we knew it was time, for her to rest.

It will truly be a struggle 

we don't know how we'll face each day, 

we have to let her go--we know 

but in our hearts she'll always stay.

This special place our Lord has made 

Health and strength, wait for her there, 

so with our very special friend 

we are sending all our prayers.

We know she's watching over us 

She'll be with us when we cry. 

So with a few more rubs on her beloved head, 

we whispered to our Nubie – “we love you and goodbye."

* Adapted from Christina Tronnes' - Special Friend

Ready for a Ninth Year on Team Running Free

I am thrilled to be back with Team Running Free for a ninth year.

This is the only place to shop for any gear you'll need for running/triathlon, etc. And owned, operated and staffed by top notch people.

When you shop at Running Free, save yourself a few dollars and use code 11296.

Happy 2015!

For those of you still checking in and following this blog.....thanks for your patience and for still checking in.

Since starting this blog during the summer of 2006, a lot has changed. I took a cursory look at some of those early posts and some other ones over those 8+ years and it was great to look back at my thoughts over the years and how technology has affected equipment and the role of social media. And its' quite interesting how the racing scene has changed too. It is amazing how many races don't exist anymore yet many are being added today.

2015 will be a big and exciting season for me. I've got another great group of athletes I will be working with at Ignition Fitness (a big reason why blog posts are not as regular as they used to be), I'll be racing frequently (as usual with MSC), and I am hoping to finally get an opportunity to drink Kona coffee at the place it is grown, and maybe even slip in some famous triathlon while I am there.

That's it for now.
Have a great 2015!