Windsor Tri & the sunny Okanagan...

It seems that life has gotten in the way of me contributing to the blog world recently. Not to worry though, silence doesn't always mean that things aren't going well or that I'm in hiding!

My last race was the Windsor/Tecumseh triathlon on August 5th, and I have to say that I have grown quite fond of the event. The race directors, John Sr. and John Jr. McKibbon, have huge hearts and a huge passion for helping their community by raising money for the Hospice. It's definitely the sense of community and tight-knit family feel that I love most about the race.

The swim at the Windsor Tri always proves to be a bit of a challenge to say the least. The water levels are so low, that it makes it impossible to have a "real" swim. The potential for running the entire swim course or doing dolphin dives is entirely possible! I felt like the swim portion went pretty well in the race, as I found myself in the company of Joanna Brown. We both had a laugh when we got to the point where it was physically impossible to swim in the water anymore, but we were still so far from hitting the beach that we were forced to alternate between doing belly-flops and doing "Running A's".

The bike course was less fun for me this year because we got caught in a down pour before we were half-way through, and I've been having serious lapses backwards and panic attacks again when I ride my TT bike. After that silly incident of going over the handle bars again in the NYC Tri, I've been extremely cautious (or just not able) to descend and I don't want to use my brakes! Yes, clearly this is not a good thing and huge mental barrier that I have to deal with. Anyway, once that rain hit, I just lost my "mojo" and backed off my aggressive pace, which was really too bad, because I was just starting to throw the hammer down. Anyway, Joanna passed me in this last stretch coming home, and I only wish that I wasn't being such a chicken. I was disappointed with how I handled the weather, but I felt a bit better when my Garmin showed that I had still averaged over 37km/hr despite shutting down the engines early.

The run course was changed to a two loop course that cut through a golf course, so that meant running on grass! I actually love running on grass, because it brings back the nostalgia of running cross-country in middle/high school. With the rain coming down, the puddles, and the slippery grass, it really was cross-country running for a portion of the run course. Despite having heavy, tired run legs leading up to the race, my legs felt the best that they felt all week, and I was quite pleased with my run effort. I ended up finishing in 2nd place, behind Joanna Brown, so it was still a pretty good day, all things considered!

I've put in a solid training block since racing in Magog, trained through Windsor, and now I'm here in the Okanagan to race on Sunday! The competition looks fierce, but I'm ready for the challenge! Plus, my bike bag arrived, so I'll actually have a weapon to do battle with;)

I'll report back after the race:)