keys, money, mobile.

Life has been pretty good, I'm on Christmas break right now. That means spending time with family and friends, some skiing, squash, and some riding inside. Sometimes when you are out there the mind wanders, possibly even reflecting - (I guess that's where New Year's resolutions come in!) So, I got a new cell phone yesterday, nothing too fancy but it provides the ability to communicate with others, some apps and the selling feature -- free and my monthly bill should be approx $25 a month. I wanted an iPhone but I just couldn't justify it. This made me think about why cell phones are so useful. I was on my bike this afternoon and watched the lecture below on www.ted.com, check it out.




Also, this graduation speech from Steve Jobs was also really motivating.



Naps are probably worth more than gold.


GW

When the pool closes

Hi everyone (mom), it's been a long time since my last post but on the darkest day of the year, I've realized that when the pool closes in Penticton for renos (lets be honest for way more than a year). We can keep our skills up by danger swimming. There has to be someone with a pool who would be up for this. DBD, don't your neighbours have a pool?



keep your head up out there.

GW

Synergistic!

I saw this, and I thought............... I can do this.



GW

I can't wait..............

Borrowed from Andy Russell's blog, I'm so stoked for skiing! The training has begun.



GW

Campbell Mountain X-country!

Well it's been a while since I last posted. It's been a busy September with trying to get a teaching contract and subbing and mountain biking! ha! After Nationals I was at the Bike Barn for Ironman, it was awesome! I got to see the sweetest bikes and some really fast people. Turns out the fastest people were in town for a while. Jordan absolutely demolished the course. It is so inspiring to see people achieve their dreams!



So this morning I raced at the Campbell mountain cross country race, #3 of the interior cross country series. It was a very challenging course and a few really strong athletes showed up. (as usual) I had a good start (the first 2 km were straight up)and saw my heart rate get up to 176. I was in 4th at the top of the hill, and was joined by Scott McMillan for the rolling 3 km or so. It was really fun having him there to key off of, I tried to stay with him and just tell myself it didn't hurt that much. With a kilometer to go Scott put in a surge and I managed to stay with him, then it was my turn and he stayed with me (I also didn't want to blow up so it may have been a bit conservative) then he went and I attacked right after that with about 100m to go. I was happy with the race because it was so much fun and my legs felt really good (IE: no niggles!)



Check these photos out!

Keep it real.

GW

The Big One

What a weekend!! We just got back from a fantastic weekend in Parksville on Vancouver Island. On Friday afternoon, Katie and I and our friends Marc, Marcia and her sister Laura who was visiting from the St. Louis area headed down in search of the elusive "big one".

After a "Pro-d day/morning" we caught the 7:00pm ferry on Friday night and headed over to Marc's Mom's place in Parksville. With a stop at BP for pizza we hung out and got to know each other a bit before bed.

On the Saturday morning, Katie and I woke up a little early so we could get a run in. Yes we were those people running on the highway, but just for a little bit before we found the route up this very very steep hill called "little mountain road". Katie said "it doesn't sound daunting, but it was", and I agree, it had to be about 2km of over 10% grade. No word of a lie!!

We got back and then spent the rest of the day kicking it old school, we went to Cathedral Falls for a hike, and then Coombs to see the "license to print money" Goat on Roof market and then we went to an old growth, very cool!

The next day us guys (Marc, Jeff (Marc's cousin), John (Marc's Step dad) and me!) were up at 5:30am and out on the water at 6:06am. We headed off and once we got our lines in, it was on!! Maybe 2 minutes later my line got a strike and I was instructed :) to reel'er in. In pure amateur fashion I did just that. The fish went under the boat a couple of times and I had too much pressure on it but I managed to fight it into the net. It took all of about 5 minutes. It was pretty damn cool!!

We had our lines in for a few more hours and got one more bite but it got away, then the weather came in so we had to head it back into shore. I do have to say there was about a 3 hour period there where I thought I was going to huck my breakfast -oh huh that was about how long we were out there for!! hahahaa. Yeah I pretty much had a queasy stomach for the rest of the day.



We're now back in Penticton getting ready for the first day of school.

Taking names and kicking ass!

GW



A big thanks to Jean and John Pickford for having us this weekend and to Marc, Marcia and Laura for being such good travel buddies with Katie and I.

Perogies and Turkey burgers!

As I write this I am enjoying a post swim workout perogies and homemade turkey burger off the BBQ. You may ask, "perogies for a second breakfast?" I ask, "why not?" It was really good and chances are I'll do it again at some point in the near future.

So this past weekend I raced in Kelowna at the National age group champs, and here is my race report.

The day started off like any other, I woke up earlier than I wanted and then managed to fall back to sleep. Fortunately, my age category had a gentlemanly start time of 9:30am. I got to the race at around 8am and proceeded to set up my transition, bike, helmet, and some running shoes. It was pretty chill. At about 9am I got my wetsuit on to go get a good warm up in, I find I always swim better the longer the warm up I have. After some little bursts I was ready, we lined up at the start and I had a great position to the right, straight in front of the first buoy!! The gun went off and I had a clean start and some open water. I was thinking, this is how it's supposed to go! Until about 20 seconds later about 20 guys swam over me. I think this is how Kramer felt when his karate class ganged up on him in the back alley. I got punched and kicked and got a good one in my left eye. I had to stop up for a second because my goggles got kicked into my eye. After that I tried to calm myself down and focus on my turnover. I made some progress up to a group and then on the second lap I went for the few guys a head of me. I came out in great position in 19:24 and then had a very quick transition. Out on to the bike I got up to speed and then got my shoes on, I felt really good and just tried my best to keep my watts as high as possible. I rode 1:02:01, I think it was the wheels!!



Out on to the run I focused on my cadence and relaxing my upper body. I thought I was running faster than I was, (obviously) but it was a 40 min flat 10km, not too bad but I was hoping for a couple minutes faster. (This gives me a great goal for nest year as I want to run as fast as the elite women - I know I know) All in all I was really happy with my race, I managed to hold off the charge from behind and win my age group and place 10th overall!!

There are a lot of people to thank that helped me have such a great race/season, first and foremost my girlfriend Katie for being so understanding, my parents, my training partners Tom, Dave and Olly, the man with the magic hands Mr. Giggles himself (Mark Kildaw), Mark and marcia for putting us up for the race and Will for always setting my bike up damn fast! Finally, a thank you Paul Rahula who tweaked my orthodics allowing me to run.

Thanks for reading,

Now it's off to the Barn!

GW

Throwing it down, the happenings

Well the end of the summer is upon us, the weather has taken a turn as a low pressure system has made the lake a touch cold. I think it will get hot again though because we usually get a cool spell right before Ironman but I think it is a week early!!

The past few weeks have been pretty busy, Katie and I moved in to the new Palace, and I've been working as a protege to Mike Holmes. Measure twice, cut once. I've been pulling up carpet and underlay and we are almost finished putting down the laminate! It looks fantastic! My knees hurt but when you walk in it is totally worth it.

Training was going pretty well up until this past Wednesday (I caught a cold, actually it caught me I was trying to get away from it but I was too slow) and am now coming around just in time for Nationals. Fortunately, I could only really get over trained so maybe its a blessing in disguise! I'm really looking forward to racing nationals, and then Cultus Lake. I think it's good to have a goal after a big race so that you don't lose perspective in that there will be another race and you can always prepare a little better. I love learning.
Finally we were watching "performance" and stumbled upon "Pop that Collar" This could be an anthem for the summer. When in doubt pop that bad boy.



GW

Peach Classic!

Well, the weekend has come and gone. I raced in the Peach Classic Triathlon yesterday and I had my best placing thus far, 12th.


The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli!!



I went for a warm up paddle and did 4 x 25 strokes hard. I felt really good even though it was like a washing machine out there. At the start I had a good run in and was agressive. I lost contact with the front guys but I was able to come out of the water in 6th and still pretty close. Out on to the bike I just put my head down and went. Jordan Rapp went past me like I was going backwards (pretty awesome!!) It was windy out there but once I made the turn at Painted rock we were flying!! Travis Chater (an old friend) caught me and we pushed each other all the way back into town. Out onto the run Travis gapped me out of transition, and we stayed like that the whole way, I almost caught him at the turn around but then we started going down hill. I was really happy with my run, I cramped a bit but was able to stay focused on my turn over and feeling light on my feet. At around 8km, TBD caught and passed me and gave me some words of encouragement (" I'm running fast because there are cold beers at the bar and I don't want them to spoil!") Fun times!!

Over all it was a good day that gave me some things to think about before nationals at the end of August!

Lastly, it was really great to have my girlfriend Katie and her dad watching as well as my sisters Erin and Sarah and baby Hannah. SO great having them all there.

I'm out for a round of golf.

GW


ps: big shout out to ABD for volunteering at the finish, and to KBD for yelling at me to dig, and to Will for making my bike really fast!

League of Extraordinary People - 2009

Once a year, a dozen of amazing people that I went to high school and univeristy with get together and catch up, in interesting places in the province. Last year we met in Tofino for surfing and drinking.

The 2009 edition led us to the North Okanagan to Shuswap Lake Provincial Park! we arrived on Friday evening after realizing the Shuswap is further away than Google maps says, plus when you stop for dinner, groceries, beer and gas the trip gets extended. Never the less we made it to our campsite just before 10pm. Our parks (BC's) are basically on the other side of the spectrum of wilderness compared to the park we were at in the states last weekend, each site was surrounded by trees and we really felt secluded. Just what we were looking for. That night once everyone arrived we caught up around the campfire with adult beverages in hand. I chose Philips Slipstream Cream Ale. Probably my new favourite beer, it's smooth with no after bite and there are cyclists on it - it has to be good!!

The next day we all made breakfast together, and hungout drinking coffee waiting for the straglers to arise. We then went on a hike up (when I say up, I mean straight up and then straight down) the side of a mountain, and then made our way down to the beach. It was so nice!! We tossed the frisbee and read. I couldn't believe how many people had massive boats, just obscene!

That night we had a group meal of burritos, there was a plethra of colours!~ Everyone was pretty damn full, but all left some needed room for smores!!! I would like to point out here that the "waterman smore technique" was introduced and used by all. Smiles all around!

The next morning we did the same thing, just hung out and cleaned up. Some went to the beach and we headed out.

It was a great weekend, and I'm so thankful for all those people that were there, and some were really missed. We all missed Malcolm and Steph and Dan, as well as Coral and Adam (and the kidlets) and Crystal and Dave (and the new kidlet)

I can't wait until February for the ski trip!!

Take care.

GW

Steamboat Rock!!

We just got back from a fantastic little holiday in the US of A! Katie, Nicole (her sister), Andrew (her brother - visiting from London, Eng), Ian (Nic's BF) Marcia, Marc and I headed down to Steamboat Rock this past July 1st. It's about 4 hours south of Penticton, and it would be totally desolate except for the fact that the Columbia river has been dammed!
Not really knowing what to expect except for cold beers and Frisbee tossing it turned out to be an awesome little getaway. We drove thru the Osoyoos border crossing where we were interrogated as to why we were coming to America. I referenced the song, and used my Jedi mind tricks and everything went smoothly. Just a quick note here, if they ask you a question, don't lie, they already know the answer! It also helps if you went to highschool with the border guard.

We drove down thru Omak (pass the Stampede) and on to the Grand Coulee Dam! It was just amazing and the little town was straight out of the fifties. About 10 miles south we got to the Steamboat Boat Rock campsite. Let me tell you it was freakin' hot, we basically went straight to the water to cool off. That night we made glorious hamburgers and smores and threw the football about 50 times too many so that all our shoulders hurt the next day.

The following day we went on the Grand Coulee Dam Tour, it was so impressive and very educational (yeah I know I'm a nerd) We were allowed to ask dam questions after
the dam tour!! It is the 3rd biggest concrete structure in the world!

That night we went to the "Laser" show on the dam, it ended with Neil Young's "Coming to America". Awesome!!

The next morning we made the trek up Steamboat Rock. It took about an hour round trip and was really cool, there were some great views and some really neat geographical structures, just completely different than in Penticton. After that we packed up and tried to pawn off milk and beer. The milk was a tough sell but the beer was accepted with open arms!

On our way home we were once again stopped at the border, it only took about 25 minutes so no worries. What a great trip, and everyone had a pretty good time!!

GW

ps: we only got passed by minivans full of children

You come to my house... and kick my dog?

The Mob is everywhere, they are connected to everything and everyone. Let me tell you their evil tentacles are here in Penticton alive and well. Anything and everything you do is being watched by someone and if you do something bad (ie: fail a kid who may or may not have ties to the mob) it/they will come back and get you when you are least expecting it. Take for example my most recent visit to Iron sport physio, I'm laying on the table (with my clothes on - hold your horses ladies) and Mr. Mark Kildaw (mild mannered triathlete by morning and evil physio by night) pulls out 4 inch acupuncture needles. Basically it's the mob's way of sending a guy named "Tony the Shovel" to your house to send you a message. The result being the same -- I can't walk. I rest my case but I'm going into adjudication meetings for failures next week and if this inability to walk continues I'll have no names on my list.

Hell, it may just be Karma, who's to say?

I think I'm going to sleep an extra 2 hours tonight.


GW

Slip my wheel on!

So, it's been a while since I last posted. I just figured nobody actually read my blog but it turns out 2 people do, Olly and my mom. The past 2 months have flown by, I've been very busy with school, on May 9th I travelled to Winnipeg for the National Science Fair where I was a chaperon to 6 fantastic kids! This was a great opportunity as I had participated in 2 national fairs in 1996 and 1999. Let me tell you it was tremendously different being there as an adult. The meeting on Sunday night from 8 until 10, was a sneak peak to the meetings to come. Lets just say I learned a lot, and met some really cool people along the way.



This past weekend I competed in Oliver at the sprint triathlon in the self proclaimed wine capital of Canada. I placed 3rd behind two very strong athletes. Jordan Rapp who is a really nice guy and who is now living in Penticton won the race and spanked me good - he's gonna be up there at IMC. More importantly, I got beat real bad by a guy named Joel Johnson. He is 15 and he will go to the Olympics.

Now onto this week, I just got back from a ride with TBD. Let's just say I took an untimely pull (read: I should have just gone straight to the back) and DBD and KBD reminded me that they can distroy me at any time. Thus, I'd like you to take a look at the clip below :)






sleep well.

GW

My eyes are up here!

I guess you could say that I'm getting tired of people talking about and looking at my rack. We had a group ride today out to Oliver (the self proclaimed Wine capital of Canada) and then up past the White Lake observatory**. I took out my Cannondale instead of the winter steed. Right away people were making lude comments about my rack, wondering where it was, and how big it was, how much beer my rack could hold. Heck they even wanted to touch it! You can look but you can't touch. I'll be keeping my rack wrapped up from now on in a pair of Paniers for commuting to work, and the 'Dale for the more 'serious' rides. All I can say is I'm looking forward to this weeks threshold Thursday at the Naramata Dipper.

Remember, look at the sun and then look away.

GW

** I was doing well, but just like Olly, Dave and Tom dropped 3rd period French in high school, I as well got dropped like 3rd period French.

Spring break!!!

Spring Break!!! Well Spring break is upon us, I'm on the second week of a great Spring Break, I spent the first week at Apex with Sam and his friend Carolyn. We had several Kenny vs. Spenny episodes on the ice and on XBox. Fortunately, we're at 2000m up there so I was able to keep the hockey casualties to a minimum. Sam would shoot the puck to the other end of the ice so that he could recover while I went and got the puck. Unfortunately for him this didn't help his cause as I've been at altitude several times this year! It may have been the spanky new skates Sam got me for my belated birthday present! As for the Xbox, Sam dominated like the champ he is.

Now I'm back at home and procrastinating very well at getting to work (marking and planning). I have been riding quite a bit too. I'm excited for the season!!

Take a nap, you've earned it.

GW

Trifecta Completed!

What a weekend! I (Team Big Deal*) had a very interesting weekend of high octane activities. On Saturday morning we were greeted by a brain freezing blizzard at Sovereign Lakes in Vernon where we competed in a 30km loppet. It was pretty nuts, almost a foot of snow fell right before the race so we had to lift our legs pretty high, and the groomer went over part of the track which made it super narrow! This narrowness caused a hard fall when I caught a tip in the snow beside the trail! While I was licking my wounds an older gentleman (58) passed me and continued to put the hurt on me for a few more k's. Luckily, age was on my side as I had to out sprint him for 14th place overall! I know, but he was tough! After the race, as per Dave's recommendation we hit up Moxie's in Kelowna. bunch of tired looking guys sitting in really nice leather chairs.

The following morning we raced in a 5km, this was fun but not at the same time. It was a freezing northerly wind and I elected to wear shorts! This race probably turned out to be a mistake for me as I have been nursing my left calf ever since. At least I'm keeping our "team" Physio in business!!

As for that afternoon, we competed in a Master's swim meet. It was so much fun and my times weren't that bad, I was especially stoked about my 100m free time as I was only a second off my lifetime best, of 1:03!!

After a weekend like that, I was pretty wrecked for a few days and now the "sore" calf/ankle is a bummer. But, the good thing about getting an injury is that it reminds you how lucky we are to do this and be so active.

Go take a nap.

Geoff

*I am merely an honourary member of TBD, as I have not completed the criteria to be an offical member.

Highs and lows

Well isn't life interesting, one day you can be like a well oiled machine and the next you can be a snot factory with the wheels falling off. I had a great ski this past Saturday, I classiced for 30 km, with Tom, Dave and the president of Nickel Plate himself Mike Bartier or Mr. President as he prefers to be called. It was a perfect day, the sun was out and the snow was fairly quick. The first lap felt great I went 59:45 for 15km, with an average heart rate of 138. I just tried to stay steady and not work too hard. On the second lap I turned it up a little bit and attacked all the up hills and sharp corners. I went 58:15 for the second 15km with an average heart rate of 143. It felt a lot harder than that. After I finished I think this is where the grease turned to snot, I didn't get enough post-effort fuel in and I was cold even though I changed clothes. Now being Monday and having taken yesterday and today off I'm still feeling under the weather. Hopefully tomorrow brings a little more health.

This leads me to some thoughts. It's funny how we (we - meaning people in good health who are active and eat right and get enough sleep) take our health for granted. I couldn't imagine living with an extra 25kgs or some sort of cardio respiratory disease. So with this feeling of "ok I'm sick but when I do feel better I'm going to really appreciate it" I'm going to continue doing work for the upcoming week and get to bed early, so that I can fully appreciate my glorious predicament of being fit, healthy and happy.

wash your hands

Due to "Them's fighting words" comments left on the blog about what is and what is not "montage" training, the previous post has been altered. In doing so I hope to not get 'remined' again by any other members of TBD. It would be a bloody day if I were to meet them in a back alley after a triathlon, considering we can all run pretty fast and they are all way bigger than me.

Snow Shoeing in the Sunshine!

This post is a little late, but as they say in the world of Assessment for Learning (AFL) better late than never. So last weekend Katie and I were up at Apex with our friends Crystal and Dan who were up from Vancouver. It was a great time of skiing, skating and snowshoeing. Oh and some beverages were consumed and some games were played (Blokus and Crib) We shared the dinner making responsibilities, we made a nice chicken stirfry with rice noodles and Dan and Crystal brought massive Halibut chunks for our consumption. I have never tasted fish that nice before.

Fortunately, for all those concerned the weather cooperated as well. When I say cooperated I mean plus 12 and hot, getting our winter fix of vitamin D. Here's a couple of shots from a balmy snowshoe.

Into the clouds!

Well, if you were in the Okanagan Valley today you probably didn't get to see the sun. I was fortunate enough to have the morning off, so Katie and I went up to Telemark in Westbank for a ski! It was glorious sunshine and the trails were mighty quick! What a way to start the day!

GMW

Old School Rocky Training

Rocky Balboa is one of my idols, he trained in Siberia for what seemed an eternity. I try to emulate the 'montage' everyday. Grunting Helps.

First Ski Race of the Year !!

I had an excellent cross country ski race today up at telemark in Westbank (West Kelowna). It consisted of 15km classic - my wax although not all fancy pants worked amazingly, and then a 15km skate ski - my wax was a little slow but it was really soft as well.

The reason why I say excellent, is I didn't get chicked, well not if you count the girl (who I found out this morning she is in grade 10, turns out she is an even better runner!! Can you say future Olympian? ) who was on a relay team who nipped me at the line. I'm gonna say that I beat her because I was slowing down to go into transition so I didn't ski by my skate skis. And thats all I have to say about that. Kudos to Katie for hanging out for six hours and taking some sweet shots!!

hi