I love training, and I love racing. There’s magic in putting in the work that nobody sees. The days, the weeks, the months. I was looking forward to putting some very special bibs this year. 2020 was going to be THE year. But just like in racing, we’re all just going to have to deal with adversity and adapt. Because with every struggle, there is growth. My Ironman training continues, but we’ve dialed back the duration. Training is now mostly to keep me healthy, physically, and mentally. And I’ve decided to keep up with my coach because I also like how the training routine and structure to our days.

My perspective for races is that the big day aka race day, it’s really a victory lap. There is so much work involved in getting to race day like balancing schedules, the training itself, staying healthy, and being able to show up to that start line in peak physical condition.. those are all nothing to scoff it. It’s a bit strange now to continue training even though there aren’t any races in the near future. So now we’re pivoting to training for life in general. Movement is medicine. It feels good to sweat, so we’re just going to keep it up. It’s easier to get back into a run if you slow down to a jog, compared to starting from a standstill. So that’s our M.O. for now. We’re going to keep our bodies moving, so when things pick back up again, we are ready.

How are you keeping yourself moving?

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Race Morning

We were participating in the 12km race, and it didn’t start until 10am. There were other distances, like the 50km that started at 7am. I don’t think we’ve ever started a race that late in the day before, other than Rock N Roll Vegas, but it’s a night run and they shut down the Strip for that! It was nice to have our normal breakfast routine at home, before getting in the car and driving out to Big White.

There were MEC flags that marked the parking at the Happy Valley Parking Lot, and when we rolled up we saw plenty of other cars as well as a portion of the race course with some 50k runners making their way through. I wanted to race in shorts and a t-shirt, but the weather was chillier than I expected. And since we’re in the mountains, I didn’t want to take any chances even though we were “only” covering 12km with 2 aid stations, so I changed into my crops and long sleeve that I had packed with plans to wear afterwards.

The starting area was pretty low key. We waited inside the building nearby where a lot of other racers were hanging out, used the bathrooms, did our stretches, and then it was time to start.

Race

For some reason, I thought we were running the course counterclockwise, so I felt so disoriented for the first little bit, thinking that we were headed toward Rhonda Lake. It took me a long time to realize we were going the other way, which is funny because I had looked at the map and saved it to my phone.

The race started with a bunch of uphill, and I was expecting to be dropped immediately by everyone to take off right away, just like what happened at Nimble Bear. But I caught up to a huge group that didn’t seem to be moving, and it was because everyone was taking their time hopping on the pallet that was positioned across a stream that was overflowing from snowmelt. Once I got across, the group started to thin out again, and it stayed pretty thin for the rest of the course.

Justin was trucking along pretty well but I felt like death by the time we got to the first aid station. I was so out of breath and my legs felt like lead. I was still pretty full from breakfast, so I didn’t have anything, other than some water. Then there was more climbing as we headed toward the top of the Exhibition chairlift.

After we got to the top of the Exhibition chairlift area, it flattened out a bit and there was some up and down as we headed towards the second aid station. Now, I wasn’t expecting much at the aid station since this was a pretty small race, and I thought I saw somewhere that said there wouldn’t be much either. But when we rolled up to the table, there was a bunch of different GU gels, ruffle chips, pretzels, and some other treats. That was nice surprise. I forgot to take a picture because I wanted to be done already.

Even though there was a nice spread, I didn’t eat anything and took a gel “just in case”. After we started on the descent towards Rhonda Lake, I immediately regretted not taking some Ruffle chips. Not because I was particularly hungry, but because I love Ruffle chips. A 50k runner came through while we were there and complained about how much hiking he was doing, instead of running. It made me laugh because that’s all I could manage out there, and we were only on the 12km route!

It was smooth sailing after we left the second aid station. There was a quick descent, and we headed towards the finish. The course started to get crazy muddy. I had spent so much time trying to avoid all the mud and muck, but eventually, it was taking too much effort and I started splashing straight through. You have to be careful if you never run in these conditions because your feet can sink pretty deep and take off your shoe.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this race was super fun. The course was challenging but the views were gorgeous and made it all worthwhile. The weather was agreeable and made it for comfortable racing conditions. The course was well marked with a bunch of little neon MEC signs. You get a 10% discount in-store when you pick up your race bib. There are no race medals for distances other than the 50km distance — and we’re totally OK with that. There was an announcement that we had access to the gondola for the day, which is a nice perk. And we could have hung around the village, but we didn’t feel like it so we just headed out and got lunch downtown. We’re looking forward to the next race of the series at Myra Bellevue!

The post MEC Kelowna Okanagan Trail Race ONE – Big White Resort July 2019 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Race Prep

Lots of Haribo gummy candy, carb-rich food, and tons of Skratch Labs hydration thanks to my sponsor Race Day Fuel over the 3 days leading up to the race. We didn’t wear anything new on race day, and Justin and I opted for matching Pro Compression compression socks. We started wearing compression socks a few years ago because we wanted to match our friends at races (they are also ambassadors, we are not) and I’m just in love. No lower leg fatigue during racing, and they’re fun! We wore our Solomon hydration packs, because we always like to have our own water and hydration. In our drop off bags, we packed sandals, a change of clothes, and a small washcloth for after the race.

Package Pickup

This race switched ownership for 2019, and I think that left a little to be desired in terms of organization. No complaints though, just observations based on our previous experiences at other races. When we showed up to package pickup, we had to wait in line to “check in” and then told to wait in another line to gain entrance into the “expo”. Very tiny expo, but it was cool. There were a few vendors to browse, if you needed some cute on-sale gear, Birkenstocks or other racing essentials like fuel or Body Glide. As part of the entry fee, we got cute gender specific tank tops in this beautiful shade of blue. We got our race bibs, racer bracelets (for after the race), and a big clear plastic bag for bag drop-off in the morning.

Race Morning

The city of Kelowna is wonderful, because parking is free all day Sunday! We drove and got a primo parking spot in front of the Delta. There were buses that shuttled us to the start at Bertram Park. I was having major stomach pain all morning, so I spent a lot of the time walking around and dry-heaving while my hubby and friends went to go use the bathrooms before we hopped on the school buses that would shuttle us out to the start line.

We brought a change of clothes in our drop-off bags, and there didn’t seem to be anywhere accepting our bags. We saw 2 volunteers from package pickup, and when we asked them they said to just leave it on the grass by the buses. We were a little skeptical but went along with the instructions, because we didn’t have anything extremely valuable in our bags. This was also one of the smallest races we’ve ever done with 1,300 races, so we just tried to go with the flow and keep criticism to ourselves.

The bus ride felt rather long from the Delta to Bertram Park. Maybe because I spent most of the time trying not to vomit. The race course was meant to start elsewhere, but got changed to Bertram Park at a later time. I’m not sure entirely when it happened, since I wasn’t paying too close attention to the route anyway. I wanted to be surprised and not worry about how I was going to pay for this all with my lack of training. What I didn’t know wouldn’t be able to hurt me, right?! We went over about 4 hills which felt monstrous in the big yellow school buses. Finally, we were dropped off in Bertram Park. It was communicated that people weren’t supposed to drive and park at the start line due to space, but it seemed fine. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot when we arrived. And the first thing I noticed was the huge lines to the portopotties. I did not feel like going into the bushes, so I waited in line.

Race Start

After we used the most clean and pristine portopotties in the world, we got in line with about 5 minutes to spare to the start time. November Project kicked off some warmups at the start line. They got everyone jazzed, and sang some funny drills. We did our own Peloton-inspired pre run warmups. I couldn’t stomach the idea of jumping or doing butt kicks with my stomach acting up. I recorded some Instagram Stories, and before we knew it we were off! Justin wasn’t even ready, so I waited for him to get himself together and we were off. The start line cleared pretty quick, within a minute or two. I held my stomach with one arm for a good mile or two, because it was just generally hurting and thought the support would help.

Race Course

The race course was so beautiful! I was so worried about the hills at the beginning of the course, but they weren’t bad at all!! I would run half way up each one, and then walk to the top and take off running again. They were gentle rolling hills at best. I should’ve worn my heart rate monitor to better gauge my effort, but I knew I didn’t want to red line early in the race and then have to worry about over-exertion and then being on the verge of puking every time I made a push.

The view was spectacular throughout the race. We ran on Lakeshore Drive, which means a view of the lake to your left. We mostly had the entire road to ourselves, but there were a few cars that drove through since there are some residents who live on the route. This is when running with headphones is really dangerous. Yes, you are supposed to have a dedicated course for running, but life happens like cars on the course, and you have to be mindful of your surroundings.

We ran along Lakeshore towards Dehart and Swamp Road. This was my least favourite section because we were just running on the shoulder of the road and the road was pretty active with cars. We ran by Michaelbrook Ranch Golf Course and I wished for a moment that we were golfing instead of running. We finally got off the road and got to run a bit on the Mission Creek Greenway. It was great to finally see Mission Creek! It was beautiful running beside the creek. I used to hate there-and-back/lollipops in race courses, but have grown to enjoy them, because it’s nice seeing other people racing and not feel like you’re last.

The last 3-4 miles really dragged on for me. I miscounted one mile and thought for that entire mile that I was closer to finishing than not, so that didn’t help. Since my stomach hurt all morning, I decided not to eat anything all race even though I had 2 gels with me. I drank a small cup of water at all the aid stations, and drank the coconut water I was carrying in my hydration pack closer to the end of the race.

The Finish Line

The finish line was at Waterfront Park and had a nice long finishing chute. I saw my hubby and friends waving me in. They announced your name when you finished, and you were given your medal. It was pretty crowded but my hubby and friends were able to find my pretty quickly in the throngs of finishers. I was the last of our group to finish at 2:32. The course was also a bit short, but overall it was not bad of an effort for a half marathon! There was finisher bananas (which I missed), more of those SunRype bubbly ice teas (which I promptly grabbed for calories), Clif fruit filled bars, and fruit bars. Our drop off bags were displayed on a table top. There weren’t too many left when I arrived, so I got my bag in seconds! We headed off to the bathrooms by “Tugboat Bay” to get cleaned up and head to the wine tastings.

Finisher Festival

This was the entire reason why I knew I needed to finish the race. I only had one small moment of doubt early on in the race, but that doubt was squashed quickly because I needed to finish to get that medal and finisher wine glass. The way the finish line was laid out, it was pretty quick to wander through and get our finisher wine glass, and head to the park and fill up on wine. They had a bunch of different wineries there, pouring samples of wine. I tried a few whites from a few wineries we had never gone too, and then just stuck to revisiting my favourites. Not bad for 10am on a Sunday morning. Eventually, we grew tired as the adrenaline wore off, and decided it was time to sit down and get brunch at Oak + Cru at the Delta.

Overall Thoughts

We will do this race again for sure! The 2019 Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon was great in terms of value and swag. The weather was cool and a bit rainy, much to my own personal delight, so it was a perfect day to run a half marathon. The race course was beautiful, and it was easy that the day “started” and finished at the Delta. The race is perfect if you were from out of town and stayed at the Delta. And if you are local or visiting, Kelowna on a Sunday morning is extremely easy to navigate and there’s ton of car parking. The wine festival at the end was also a good time! Not sure if the organizers will plan on providing on-course nutrition in 2020, so make sure to pack your own. We’re definitely going to try and snag an early bird rate and entry for next year.

The post Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon June 2019 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

I just had the most fun I’ve ever had in a race at Ironman 70.3 Victoria. The training cycle for this one was pretty rough and not a priority at times, so I’m pretty happy how everything turned out. I had raced BMO Vancouver Marathon 6 weeks prior, and also wanted to have a great time at the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon that would be 6 days after finishing Victoria. So with (the lack of) training, I was banking on my riding my marathon fitness, and seeing what I could pick up and cram in from a well-timed triathlon camp in Vernon that I attended three weeks prior to race day.

Athlete Check In/Bike Drop

Ironman Victoria 70.3 had the worst check in I’ve ever experienced. In previous years, all activities were held on the other side of Beaver/Elk Lake, and they moved it all this year so there would be more parking and space available. It was awful, so I can’t imagine how it used to be. When we arrived at Beaver Lake, the road by the highway was really crowded, so we decided that we should hop out and walk in with our bikes. It. Was. So. Far.

When we finally arrived at the Athlete Village area, there was a huge line up to check in, and I stood in line with our bikes before space finally cleared up on nearby racks. I needed to pay one day race insurance fee, and got diverted to the slowest table to even though I had exact change. Then we had to go to another table to sign waivers, and give permission on if our names could be shared in case of accident. Then we went to another table to pick up bibs and swim caps. Then another table for our chip timers. It was in a really small crowded tent, and I disliked the process here compared to other races.

The Athlete Village was kind of nice and had a few vendors. As a pre-race ritual, I went to go buy a new pair of goggles at the Aquasphere tent. I did like how there was a huge swag tent, there was lots of swag to look at compared to Ironman Calgary. I bought a bunch of race branded water bottles because it looked like they were running low, and planned on returning to the swag tent once I finished. We put the stickers on our bike, dropped off our bikes in transition, and walked by the swim start before leaving for the day.

Pre-Race

Since the race started around 6am, we woke around 4am so that we could get to transition early without rushing. I opted to eat a Clif bar for breakfast, which I took with me and ended up eating while setting up at transition. I was going to have a gel before the swim, but totally forgot.

Swim

With the way I swim, I really have no business participating in triathlons. But I really wanted a 70.3 finisher hat. I didn’t do any pre-swimming at the venue because everyone had nasty things to say about Elk/Beaver Lake. I didn’t do any open water swimming before this race, because the waters were still too cold. I was only swimming about 1x/week.The outdoor pools had just opened for the season. I didn’t even try on my new wetsuit until before athlete check-in/bike drop. The odds were really against me.

On race morning, we learned the swim was officially shortened due to lake weeds. Yay! Shortened swim should mean auto-PB. It didn’t take long to set up at transition, and I rushed so I could get in the water for a small warm up. I wore a one piece Sugoi trisuit, and quickly put on my wetsuit. I made sure to Bodyglide the back of my neck, around my elbows and knees. Walking barefoot from transition to swim start was honestly the hardest part of the entire day. The swim start was really far from transition and I should’ve brought flip flops.

The lake was warm and there was no visibility — perfect! All my triathlon swims have been in murky water, so this is all I know and I think I prefer it. I let water into my wetsuit, swam towards a buoy and got back out to get in line. It was a self seeded start and I put myself in the last 1/4 of the crowd. The swim start area felt like a cluster. The corral was too small, and there was not enough space to wait by the signs for your expected swim times. I’ve only ever experienced wave starts, so this rolling start was new to me but it felt very much like a running race. The gun went off, and you gradually make your way through the starting arch. Everyone started getting into the water, and I waded in until about waist deep and started swimming. Some people walked in until up to their neck. I swam a little bit and then started to get jostled. Nothing major, no punches or anything. But in the first 100m, every time I got bumped I would completely stopped and then I started to panic and get scared. But I couldn’t quit because I wanted that hat. And I was too close to the shore and the crowd. So I forced myself to keep going. I exhaled extra hard and counted my strokes to keep myself busy. After I passed the first buoy, I felt better. When I passed the second buoy, I was over the moon. I was suddenly having THE BEST SWIM EVER. I was having the best time ever. I just kept counting my strokes and enjoyed the swim. It was magical. Until it was time to turn back. The turn buoys switches sides (which was really confusing, I thought we kept all buoys to our left) and we got into the lake weeds. I didn’t love that. I didn’t know what to do so I started to swim weird. Then a weed landed on my face. But it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I thought that if you were to get into the weeds, it would start pulling you down into the depths of the lake and stuff. Nothing like that happened. The lake weeds were also nowhere as scary as people bumping into me.

We got pulled out of the water at the swim finish, which was a floating plastic dock thing. The volunteers form a human chain to hoist you out. No wetsuit strippers. I literally skipped and ran with joy into transition. I’ve never felt like I was having fun in an open water swim until now. I hope this is my new normal. My swim time was still pretty awful, 42:19 for either 1500 or 1600m, I’m not really sure what the distance was. I lost some time with the buoy confusion. I need to work on sighting, getting comfortable in crowds, and swim strength. So, basically everything.

T1

I was able to run to T1, which is a first for me. I had tucked the end of the zipper string into the velcro part on the neck of my wetsuit, so it was really easy to reach and start unzipping myself. I took off my swim cap and goggles and held them in my left hand while I pulled off my sleeve so they got safely stowed away. I sat down in transition to wrestle the rest of the wetsuit off. I rinsed off my feet using an extra water bottle, and put on my hot pink Betty Designs cycling jersey and Sugoi cycling shorts. Yes, on top of my one piece Sugoi trisuit. I like extra padding. It was overcast, and my jersey has SPF, so I skipped sunscreen.

BIKE

I had a great time on the bike, but I am so embarrassed by my time. I felt really strong and rode in the big ring for almost all of the ride. Compared to where I now currently ride and train, the Victoria course felt pretty flat, other than 2 major hills. I spent a lot of time with my head turned looking the at scenery. Not aero at all. I planned on riding by HR but couldn’t because the HRM I brought with me ended up being a dud. So I decided to go by RPE alone, and not check my time.

The course was really beautiful, but I felt like there were too many cars for my liking. There were also a few accidents. One was at an aid station, and I think I saw at least 2–3 ambulances over the course of the ride. But maybe that’s par for the course when you’re back of the pack like me. I rode with concentrated Infinit and water, and my nutrition felt bang on. I will ride with one disposable water bottle on future races, so I don’t have to fumble with water re-fills.

When I got back to transition, I finally looked at my time and was shocked! 4 HOURS?! I was so annoyed at my time, and got little disoriented so extra T2 time was wasted by trying to exit out the wrong corner of transition. 4 hours?! 4 hours. Boo. My RPE is a liar. I was hoping for at least 3:25 or under, and ended up being 03:45:13. I learned my RPE is a liar and elevation charts are greatly exaggerated. Next time, I’ll be sure to ride with a working HRM and most obviously, check my time.

T2

I was pretty upset at my bike time, so I forgot to take off my cycling shorts. I changed into my sneakers and threw on my race belt. I opted to run in my cycling jersey because the weather was still cool and I still didn’t want to bother with sunscreen.

RUN

The run was pretty flat, 2 loops around Elk/Beaver Lake. The aid stations were every 2km, but felt a lot farther than that in some places. Normally I run 10 minutes and walk 1 minute, but since I never do any speed work, I decided to try a new ratio of 4:1 and see if I could get free speed. I stuck to cola and water, and ate half of a peeled banana for some reason. Pre-peeled bananas are weird. It was pretty hard having to run by the finish line to start the second loop. I thought about how hard that would be on a 140.6. My second loop got a lot quieter. I also stopped for a bio break, and I’m convinced it was the reason why I did not PB (in reality, it was many things). There was a younger guy whose left leg didn’t seem to be cooperating, but he was limping faster than I was running. Just like how there were people who were backstroking faster than I was front crawling on the swim. We leap frogged a bit and chatted some. I lost him when he stayed to walk with a couple girls in really cute Zoot kits. It got a little warmer near the finish, so I started throwing a cup of water down my chest. I’ve seen plenty of other people racing in what look like cycling jerseys, and I loved racing in my hi-vis Betty Designs cycling jersey for so many reasons. It was easy to spot me. It kept me comfortable. It had sun protection and covered my back and shoulders, and I learned it could keep me cool when I needed it.

Overall Thoughts

I was pretty undertrained going into this race. I was getting into the pool once a week. Barely running. I was focussed on getting stronger on the bike (and I was getting there) but never doing any speed work. If I was racing in July, I would’ve been in much better shape. Especially with everything I learned at this awesome training camp. Regardless, it’s pretty cool to see what my body is capable of. Victoria won’t be the top of my list for next year, since it’s really early in the season for me and I don’t like taking the ferry from Vancouver. But I’m excited to race another 70.3 and see what happens. Thanks to my husband and family for being really supportive, and thanks to my friends for all your messages and encouragement.

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