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