A Flurry of Posts

I've finally got some time to sit down and set up a few highlights that have happened over the past few weeks...settle in with a drink and enjoy...

Chapter 1. Frigid Waters

I'll start way back on May 1st. First day of May marked the first open water swim. A nice sunny day didn't make the water any warmer however. Luckily some of the ethopians on the team came prepared with duct tape and extra neoprene:


Sharpie getting sealed up


Don't Forget the Feet


Shiver me Timbers!


Chapter 2. Uncle Andy

On April 15th a new person came into this world; Stella Ann Bollans entered the Salmon Arm hospital just after 8pm. Mhairi and Tim you will be the best parents, however I will be around to test your parenting skills from time to time with some tempting corruption for Stella, the uncle has to play that role doesn't he? I went and visited the three up in Salmon Arm. First diaper change, first baby bath, a lot of first actually. Most noticeable thing I learnt about babies was that even though everything is much much smaller, the sounds that come out of them are just as loud.





Chapter 3. Sooke Sprint

Last weekend I raced just 30k up the west side of the Island in Sooke. This race is my favourite pool swim triathlon. Both the bike and run are challenging and well marshelled. The 700m swim went well, had a little trouble in T1 adjusting my bra and then headed out on the bike with the cross hairs lined up on the names ahead of me. Into T2 I had about 75'' on AMac, but just 20s on Stevo who had raced a heat before me. On the run it was tempting to giver but PK was at hand to steady the rains, that was except for a short lived sprint with Amac at the end. Stevo ended up winning the race with time to spare, looking good for shawnigan my man!




Chapter 4. Hell in a Box

In prep for the race I am at right now the seniors got in some heat adaptation at the PISE MET, aka hell in a box. Cycling 75-90' at 36C/75% Humidity was tough. By the end of the cycle though I was flying stronger on the back half of the session and able to deal with the heat a little better. Every session I would lose about 6lbs in sweat...yup that is 1 and a half milk jugs. Per hour my sweat rate was about 3L. Now this is impossible to replace during a race, but it gives you an idea of how much you need to replace post workout or race in order to rehydrate yourself and aid in recovery. A revisit to the HIB might be in order when Kelowna rolls around in August.


Chapter 5. The day before the Storm

Nice day today here in Oklahoma, 85, sunny and some serious kite flying winds. We are about a 30' drive from the race site so we made use of Christians home swim set up to do some fast treadmill swimming! Another storm warning for tonight, tornadoes on the menu as well.