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Comparing My Summer Training Regimens (So Far)

Every year I hesitate to sign up for races, knowing I haven’t really trained to the levels I used to, and knowing I won’t perform to the levels I used to. My wife always encourages me to sign up, because she thinks with the carrot of an upcoming race (and the stick of the spent fees) I’ll train more, and thus be happier about my health, less stressed, and have something to look forward to. And she’s mostly right, of course – but the fear and shame don’t seem to go away.

I’ve done the Cultus Triathlon for 3 years in a row now, and stuck to the sprint distance. Every year I think I’m going to 1) move up to Standard/Olympic Distance (i.e. double the distance of a Sprint) and/or 2) switch to the Vancouver Triathlon, and try my hand at a new route/venue – including an open water Swim in ocean salt water! Yes, it’s option 2 for 2026.

I survived my under-trained attempts from previous summers, so I wanted to see how badly off I am this year. I pulled my stats from Strava and we’ll have a look at them one discipline at a time.

Swim

It can be hard to tell, because I don’t record pool swims online, but I found no evidence of having swam in June or July of 2025. I know that some of that July was occupied by our trip to Japan, where exercise was mostly walking around and an occasional run. As of this writing I have completed 2000 meters of swimming in our community pool. So 2026 is winning the swimming.

Bike

June 2025: 25km biked

June 2026: 29km biked.

July 2025: 34.5km biked

July 2026 (so far): 25.4km biked.

None of these are high, but I’m glad to see 2026 beat 2025 in June, and July looks promising too. July 2025 had my ride to downtown Abbotsford going for it, and this year had the Stanley Park Seawall, which is part of the Vancouver triathlon so that’s good preparation.

Run

June 2025: ran 14.5km

June 2026: ran 14.4km

July 2025: ran 12.6km

July 2026 (so far): ran 13.1km.

Junes are always for the Run for Water. This year, my foot was hurting badly (ankle tendonopathy) and my back seized up so it was more of a walk. It seems odd that June mileage lines up so closely from year to year. July, on the other hand, belongs to 2026, thanks to me taking aim at the Vancouver Tri and consciously upping the mileage of my runs.

Looking Ahead

Last August saw me swim 6km in open water, bike 36.9km, and run 8km. I should be able match or beat those numbers, and subsequently survive the Vancouver Triathlon. I may still sign up for Cultus the week after, we’ll see.

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A June of Firsts Part 3: A Ride Around Stanley Park Seawall

I heard the Stanley Park Seawall has a dedicated bike path that only travels in one direction so I thought it would be nice to ride it as a family. We had to do a pick-up in Delta in the late afternoon anyway, but it did mean our ride would be time-bound. I found lots of potential routes – while the Seawall path itself is clear, finding an accessible starting point with parking is up for some debate. Some I found started in the streets of downtown Vancouver, and bike lanes or not, I knew I’d have an easier time selling it by avoiding streets. I found this map, and parked at Denman and Georgia as suggested.

There were 2 public lots, and since I’ve had my car broken into in Vancouver before, I was a little leery. I picked an Indigo lot where people complained about being ticketed in spite of having used an app to pay for parking. Sure enough, I saw someone get ticketed while I unloaded our bikes and arrive shortly thereafter. Spoiler alert: Luckily we did not have the same problem.

On a Saturday the trails were crowded, especially at first. Whenever you’re at a standstill, it’s difficult to merge into the traffic, especially since traffic contains not just cyclists of all levels, but e-bikes, e-scooters and inline skates which all have wildly different speeds.

There were many sights to enjoy so we did stop often and had to deal with that merging challenge. Still, I wish we had even more time to really explore them. We were also blessed by the presence of public washrooms, which I didn’t know I could count on.

By far the nicest site with the biggest potential for stealing your day away was Third Beach. I didn’t go in the water but the Lightning Kid said the temperature was OK, and it was certainly a beautiful blue. We held off on getting ice cream or drinks from the nearby stand/restaurant, but maybe next time.

All three of the “June Firsts” were adventures that could have been all-day affairs. Maybe next time!

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A June of Firsts Part 2: The Grouse Grind (a.k.a Masochist Father’s Day)

I wanted an active, but fun family outing for Father’s Day and after some consultation, we decided to go to Grouse Mountain, partially because the Observatory is a fine dining establishment where we could get a good meal to commemorate the day. When you book a table, the gondola ride is included in the meal price, so it’s a good deal.

We didn’t leave Abbotsford till the mid afternoon, so that the outing wouldn’t eat up everyone’s entire day. I would live to regret this. The Grouse Grind is “2.5-kilometre trail up the face of Grouse Mountain, commonly referred to as ‘Mother Nature’s Stairmaster'”. The elevation gain is around 850m, so it’s shorter but steeper than Stawamas Chief, and way harder than the Abby Grind. I had been watching people on Instagram tackle it for the week prior, and I saw extremely fit people (including a 9 year old girl) do it in 45-50 minutes. I was banking on 75-90 minutes for myself. I took both sons along, but my wife opted to take the gondola up; obviously, she’s the brains in this operation.

Looking good at the start

The stairmaster description was apt. A lot of the trail is stairs, though there are rocky trail sections too. Some of the steps are uniform and sized appropriately for any leg lengths, some others, not so much. At the 25% mark, there was a defibrillator, which was kind of a grim reminder that my blood pressure isn’t in the best zone lately. That waypoint also had a sign for people to check in with themselves to see if they were really up for the challenge of the remainder of the climb, which would only get narrower and steeper.

While that was intimidating, I did note that after that point we encountered far less hikers coming down the other way. I wasn’t expecting any at all, because descending the grind is actually not allowed – you have to purchase a ‘download’ ticket to use the gondola. Luckily, ours was taken care of by my wife’s reservation.

We noticed numbered trail markers that increased in number out of a total of 40, so that made it easier to feel like we were getting closer to our goal (“only 15 more to go” for example). Defibrillators showed up again at the half-way and three quarter markers.

I started getting disheartened when I saw that we were going to take well over 90 minutes. We needed frequent breaks to catch our breath, and mosquitoes found us quickly whenever we would stop moving. Luckily the trail has a good tree canopy to stay out of the hot sun. Eventually we found ourselves clambering over the last few metres. I think they make that last stretch even more inhospitable to discourage people from descending.

By the time we got to the top we didn’t have enough time to ride the coaster like I planned, and the ropes course apparently takes two hours. Next time we come to Grouse Mountain, we’ll make a day of it. I also missed a bird of prey show, but luckily my wife caught a few photos.

She also saw the Grizzly Bears. They are there for rehabilitation and are not capable of surviving in the wild.

Before dinner, we were able to cool down with a drink and enjoy the view.

The Observatory spoiled us with a delicious prix-fixe menu; the boys and I selected the steak option. Luckily we had brought clothes to change into rather than eat in sweaty t-shirts.

I found the Grouse Grind exhausting enough that I’m not in a hurry to try it again, but it would be nice to get it done faster, if possible. I hadn’t stopped the Strava until well after finishing it, and it presents ‘moving time’ not actual time. Maybe under 90 minutes next time..

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A June of Firsts Part 1: Matsqui Trail Bike Ride

After springing for a new Thule bike rack that could carry 4 bikes (we used to be able to put the Lightning Kid’s bike in the trunk when we wanted a family bike ride), I was extra motivated to try and get out for a ride that wasn’t simply through my own neighbourhood. The weather’s turned really nice here in Abbotsford, and I need to get my exercise in more than ever.

My wife mentioned the Matsqui trail as something she wanted to explore either on foot or by bike a few times in the past, so I took it upon myself to scout it out because I’m the kind of person who likes to stave off disappointments and/or catastrophes.

The Matsqui Trail runs along the South shore of the Fraser River. There’s a nice park at the foot of the Mission bridge which seems to be the half-way mark between the East and West arms of the trail. From that park, I chose to ride west first. It was a beautiful day and I could really enjoy the sunlight on the water. It reminded me of our visits to Berlin, in a way.

I wanted to get a shot of the sunshine on the water. I guess I got too much sunshine in the shot.

There was a part of the western arm of the trail that went by a sewage treatment plant; I had been forewarned about the smell, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared (though still unpleasant).

Once I passed that, things started to get interesting. I could tell by a train whistle that I was getting near a railroad; it got quite loud, but where I actually first crossed paths with it was to ride under a bridge that the train had just crossed over. Later, I would actually (carefully) cross the rail line on its surface, but by then the train was long gone. I came across a parking lot that is marked as part of the Trans Canada trail on Google Maps, and I saved it for future reference.

The rest of the trail wandered further from the river, and got to be more challenging. While it was a net climb, I found it to be also a bit of a beginner-level mountain-bike track in terms of tight corners and squeezes and inclines and declines; I had thought this would be an easy gravel ride. I’ve been struggling to find places to mountain bike that are appropriate for my level; most of the places I find are too risky. Even as I started getting gassed by the climb, I was pleased to have found something that could challenge me physically and technically. I turned around at Douglas Taylor Park, which might or might not be the absolute end of the trail but good enough for my purposes. I rode back down and enjoyed not only the easier pace but the challenge of handling some light twists and turns, though I nearly had a collision with a man on a recumbent bike.

I got back to the central bridge park, and decided I had enough time to see what the Eastern arm was like. While I didn’t get to its bitter end, the parts I saw were flat, and sometimes leveraged the dyke trail.

I think if I cherry pick the right parts of the trail in the future, I can offer anything from a leisurely family ride to a bit of beginner mountain bike training.

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The Long Road To Getting Back Onto Inline Skates

I always liked inline skating. I had a great pair that I liked, and I rode them till I not only wore down the brake rubber but the screw that holds it in.

Once that screw’s head was worn down, it was impossible to remove it with a screwdriver and thus impossible to replace the brake pad. I took it to Sport Chek a few years ago, but they said the repair was beyond their ability, and that I’d have to drill out the remains of the screw. I knew I didn’t have the tools for that so I gave up for several years.

Until now; After last year’s misadventure on cross-country skis, I finally bought a new set of skate skis that I’ve been dying to try out. I nearly offered to join a Ski 2 Sea team that was short a skier, but it turned out a scheduling conflict would make me unable to go this year. Still, I wanted to start skate skiing soon, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I wasn’t in good condition to pursue that. I figured getting back on my roller-blades was the best option to build up the right muscles and technical skills.

I sprung for a stronger drill bit and found a ‘screw extraction’ kit that could remove a screw that was stubbornly stuck once you bored a starter hole into it. Ultimately, once I had drilled that hole out of the screw, I was able to turn the screw with a set of needle-nose pliers, rather than the screw extraction kit. I ordered a new brake pad from Amazon and I was ready to go.

One of the things I like about inline skating is it can be done without getting too sweaty, so I’ve been keeping my skates and a helmet in my car. I found an opportunity to skate around the parking lot near the gymnastics club where my sons train.

 

I was also able to do some skating on my lunch hour at work.  The area has some multi-use trails, and not getting too sweaty meant I could resume working in the office afterwards.

That wasn’t much, but the Family Day Long Weekend came, and we made an overnight trip to Manning Park Resort. The meals in the Pinewood Restaurant were good, and on Monday morning, we rented skis for the ever-growing boys, and I finally got a chance to try skate skiing on my new skis.

When I first got my skis on and started skating, I got an almost nasty surprise as to how fast they were! In fact, it wasn’t long before they flew out from underneath me when I turned around to look behind me at how my son was progressing. There’s no network coverage in Manning, and we tried the Strawberry Flats trails that we always use. My Trailforks app did track my distance, and I figure I got 8km done. Unfortunately, I forgot to stop it before I started the drive home, so the record is useless.

The new skis were a joy to use, and it vastly improved my mood and salvaged a difficult weekend. I want to continue using my inline skates to keep up my cross-country ski conditioning. There may be roller skis in my future, but we’ll see for now.

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Off-Season Training Ideas for the 2025 Rainy Season

Since moving to BC, I’ve had to get used to long stretches of rainy weather. I’ve always liked a lot of diversity in my exercise and training, but it’s easier when I don’t have to worry about an upcoming event where my training has to focus on swimming, biking and running.

Sun Hang Do

The Lightning Kid and I have been practicing this martial art for the past 3 years. It’s a bit of a local phenomenon with clubs throughout BC’s lower mainland and it’s descended from/similar to Tae Kwon Do.

We recently got tested for new belts, and we’re excited to join the ‘Black Belt Club’ where we add grappling and weapons to our training. I honestly could have/should have/would have devoted an entire post to Sun Hang Do, but in the meantime here’s a video of the Lightning Kid’s first belt test, and another of us both testing 2 years later.

A clip from our 2nd most recent Belt Test

Iron Cycle

Iron Cycle is a spin studio in Downtown Abbotsford. My wife and I used to do spin classes at a GoodLife Fitness, but with the advent of Peloton, Soul Cycle and the like, spin classes have stepped up a level. The class is conducted with very low lighting, and the club provides shoes with clips and towels. The song lists are heavily curated and the instructors pump you up with their high energy levels. We come out of the class drenched with sweat, but with a feeling of accomplishment, and it’s a nice ‘date’ that doesn’t revolve around food. Keeping up my bike fitness is a good idea for the next triathlon season and it would pay dividends if I’m on a bike event for the Ski 2 Sea.

We usually do the ‘Capable Ride’, but there are also Yoga classes and a hybrid class that combines spin with stretching and strength work – I hope I can try these sometime too. And yeah, I dig the name.

Body bar

I’ve been interested in these as a piece of strength training equipment for a while now. Between strengthening for kayaking (in case I need to do it for the Ski 2 Sea) or for Bo Staff work in Sun Hang Do (see above), I think it could be a nice addition to my home gym.


Cindy + other Crossfit.

I read somewhere that the ‘Cindy’ Crossfit workout is Tom Holland’s (a.k.a. Spider-Man) favourite workout. It’s 20 minutes of doing As Many Rounds As Possiple (a.k.a. AMRAP) of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats. I can’t do unassisted pull-ups so I use a band.

This workout makes me sweat a lot, and I’ve found that I’ve improved on the pull-ups already after doing it sporadically throughout the summer. I sometimes do variant push-ups, or lunges instead of squats .


Project Climbing

Project Climbing is a bouldering gym that has branches in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Cloverdale. The boys and I have experimented with bouldering from time to time in Mississauga, on our trip to Berkeley, California and at both the Abbotsford and Chilliwack location. Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. Indoors, it’s a pretty low commitment way to get a full body workout that works your stabiliser muscles and co-ordination. I’m hoping I can squeeze in a few visits to this gym and improve my skills, grip strength (a significant marker of longevity) and upper-body strength.

Rucking

I had an old backpack that I filled with old weights and kept it in my car – sometimes when there was time to go for a little walk, I’d throw it on for a bigger calorie burn. Unfortunately, while parked in downtown Vancouver (Gastown to be precise) while the Lightning Kid was rehearsing for Toronto Kids Fashion Week, someone smashed in my car’s back window to take the backpack. I was upset, obviously, but I had to laugh at the idea that the thief probably thought they’d scored a laptop, when it was just relatively worthless weight. I hope they nearly dislocated their shoulder when they snatched it. So I might spring for a high-end ‘official’ pack and use it in the same way – but not keep it in my car when parked in a bad neighbourhood.

Mamba Cycle

This would probably feel like cheating on Iron Cycle (above), but it’s apparently a fitness studio with spinning, strength circuits, and heavy bag work. I guess the latter would potentially make it feel like cheating on Sun Hang Do (also above).

Mountain Biking

I honestly thought I’d be mountain biking more regularly when I moved to B.C. It’s been hard to find trails that are appropriate for my beginner skill level. They’re either on the side of a mountain where one slight bobble would send me careening to my doom, or simple flat gravel trails. At least those are the kinds I find in our neck of the woods; I lose interest if I have to drive more than 20 minutes to find the ‘right’ trail. Furthermore, this activity is one that I’m unlikely to do in lousy weather, so maybe it shouldn’t be on this list – but still I’m hopeful that I can find some subset of trails within the local networks that I could practice and improve my skill on.

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Glamping with Little Escape Outdoor Co.

My wife booked us on glamping trip in nearby Aldergrove as a kind of birthday party for me. If you’re not familiar with the term, “Glamping” is glamourous camping (we got our first taste of it back in Tennessee) – it takes the roughest parts (and work) out of camping. Food provided, nicer beds, etc.

The site was part of a Blueberry farming company’s land, and that made the entrance a little hard to find. The welcome email did warn us to ignore Google maps, in fairness. Once we had driven in, we were given a good briefing as to what we could expect. There was an itinerary of activities, but the timing was somewhat loose so it didn’t feel like a we were doing a drill, nor would we wonder what to do with ourselves. Snacks were plentiful.

Our tent

Our first activity was to feed the horses. You could use a scoop or your bare hands. One horse, Princess, was more demanding than the others, and would stomp her hoof demanding to be fed. We also got a chance to feed the Alpaca, which was a bit more interesting as they are somewhat shy, and we let them get acclimatised to our presence while we fed some sheep.

We got to sample some of the local honey and blueberry products after that, and we brought home an espresso honey that I’ve enjoyed at least once at home since the weekend.

We also got to try a little archery and an air rifle. While the air rifle was an unexpected bonus, I was a little disappointed by the archery since there were only 2 bows which didn’t provide much variety.

Dinner was Korean BBQ, where you prepare meat and vegetables on a hub-cap like grill. There was great beef and pork-belly available as well as barbecue sauce you could add to spice it up. It was a little tricky to manage utensils, chopsticks, raw meat vs cooked meat, etc. on the small, low-slung tables, but it was a hearty meal for a camping trip.

For desert, what else but a marshmallow roast? We slept very comfortably in our tent. When I got up to use the washroom in the wee hours of the morning, I found it to be a long walk and was surprised at how many rabbits I saw snacking on whatever leftovers had fallen into the grass. Unfortunately, it was hard to get back to sleep with nearby highway noise and beeping trucks backing up (even at that hour!).

The tents were provided with nightmasks and earplugs, which were a good idea because the field was bright with fog diffusing the sunlight everywhere as soon as dawn arrived. Our agenda announced breakfast at 8:30, and it was delicious with eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and noodles!

Before leaving, the staff airdropped us various photos they had shot over the course of our stay. It was a nice, low-effort adventure for our family and a great way to celebrate a birthday.

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Conquering the Abby Grind

As I was quick to find out while trying to train and stay in shape, living in British Columbia means hills. Going up them, going down them. Many people have heard of the Grouse Grind which is a trail that takes you up Grouse Mountain (rather than taking the gondola).

I haven’t done that one yet, but there is also the Abby Grind in Abbotsford, which is more convenient, since Abbotsford is where I live. I’ve wanted to tackle this one for a while but I waited till I didn’t have the Cultus Lake Triathlon on the horizon. This weekend was my chance, especially since the weather was nice and dry.

The trail starts off steep, which is good preparation for what is to come. There are few flat or even gradual stretches to give you relief from climbing. And don’t count on stairs or ladders to make things easier either. There were times I don’t think I made more than 10 feet of elevation progress before I wanted to catch my breath. I did appreciate the signs marking the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 marks.

Progress Markers

There’s at least one good lookout before the top, but I think it was before the 1/4 mark, so there’s plenty of time to wish you were at the top.

There were plenty of people of all ages, shapes and sizes making their way up and down the trail, so that’s encouraging to anyone who wants to try it; one just has to take one’s time. There aren’t a lot of markers to reassure you that you’re going the right way, but the trail is always obvious, and the right way is to go is up. Eventually of course, you’re treated to the glory of making it to the top and enjoying the view.

Going down seems easier at first, but I slipped a few times in the dust. I avoided falling on my butt, however my recovery was probably more dangerous since I ended up correcting by taking some steps forward onto uncertain footing and could have pitched downhill. I thought I spent roughly an hour going up and a half hour coming back down, but Strava makes it look like it was roughly equal time in each direction. I’d like to repeat the challenge again in a few months or maybe the new year.

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Ski 2 Sea

Has anyone heard of the Ski-to-Sea relay race?  It’s a relay from the top of Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay, done in seven different legs: cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, running, road bike, canoe, cyclocross/gravel bike, and sea kayak.  I heard about it (or at least, a now defunct Canadian version) years ago and had it on my bucket list, but I realized last year that now I live close enough to give this a try without having to spring for airfare and shipping equipment.

I’m not in shape to try it the next iteration, so I figured I’d start trying to build a team for **next** year, that is, May of 2026.  A team needs to be from 3 to 8 people (less than 3 is logistically impossible anyway).  The link to the event site is here: https://skitosea.com/

Each leg of the race has some details that one should be clear on – for example, the downhill ski portion has a climb so it would be best for someone with backcountry ski gear for climbing.  Stand-up paddleboards are not allowed on the canoe or sea kayak portion.  No aerobars are allowed on the road bike portion. I’ll examine each leg and rate how plausible it is for me to be a candidate for completing that leg as part of a team.

Leg 1: Cross-Country Skiing (Length: 6km)

Cross-country skiing is one of my favourite sports (check the receipts!). I’ve been doing it since I could walk, and the distance isn’t too onerous. The terrain will probably be tough (intermediate to advanced according to the description) and being the first leg means getting up extra early for various logistical reasons. I just got some new skis this year so I can work on my skating (which is banned during the first 100 yards of the race), so this feels like an area I can shine in.

Plausibility: High

Leg 2: Downhill Ski/Snowboard (Length: 4km)

This sounds like a no-brainer, but unfortunately, there is a portion where you must climb to the top of a hill – over 1000 feet of elevation gain! I thought this required climbing skins and back-country skis, but according to this year’s rules that kind of equipment isn’t allowed. So I guess it’s just a matter of toughing it out in heavy ski boots, and the rest is all downhill, literally.

Plausibility: Medium

Leg 3: Running (Length: 13km)

13 km is beyond my current running endurance, but it is something I could train up to. Mountainous terrain (though it is a road run course) adds extra challenge. The problem is, in a group of 3-8 people which the relay demands, running is one I imagine most people would want to have for themselves.

Plausibility: Medium

Leg 4: Road Bike (Length: 66km)

Seems simple enough for a triathlete, right? It’s even a net downhill! However! Aero-bars are only allowed in the competitive division, so I’d be riding my old road bike might be the better option. There are also no course markers, so having a good familiarity with navigating the course is important. Last year my son and I failed to complete a 50 km bike ride due to some wrong turns on a fundraiser, so that shakes my confidence a little.

Plausibility: Medium

Leg 5: Canoe (Length: 30km)

I know how to canoe, but I don’t have one in BC, and I don’t relish getting strong enough to complete this leg. It is completed in a team of 2, which further complicates training.

Plausibility: Low

Leg 6: Cyclocross (Length: 18km)

I’ve flirted with Cyclocross a little, and always wanted to get a Cross bike. Even if I didn’t, a Mountain bike can be used.

Plausibility: High

Leg 7: Sea Kayak (Length: 8km)

While I don’t have a kayak in BC, I’d be willing to consider getting one and possibly training myself up for this event. Still, getting time on larger bodies of water might be difficult.

Plausibility: Low

The Hidden Event: Logistics

The ideal team has 8 people – one for each event, except canoeing which has 2. This has the simplest implementation, since everyone on the team has one starting line they have to be at (on time), and one event to be competent enough to finish. I think it might take a little of the ‘multi-sport’ fun out of it, though. Any fewer team members (to a minimum of 3) and somebody has to shuttle between events after finishing a leg. The race demands certain road closures, and getting equipment and bodies moved around will take several vehicles (they list 3 vehicles for the 8 racer scenario).

Recruiting and managing an 8-person team has to be challenging too – ensuring everyone is trained, equipped, and informed is a serious bit of management/leadership.

If anyone reading this wants to join a team with me, drop a comment or reach out online. I might start recruiting in local Facebook groups in 2025.

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Cultus Lake Triathlon 2025: Third Time’s the Charm – Hat Trick – Triathlon Trifecta

I had hoped to do the Vancouver Triathlon this year, but by the time I got around to bringing up the registration page, it was sold out (I learned later, that transfers are actually allowed, which wasn’t the case when I lived in Ontario). So I signed up for my third time of the Sprint distance at the Cultus Lake Triathlon. I’m nothing if not a creature of habit.

I mentioned in last year’s report that Dynamic Events runs a really tight ship with lots of verifying that athlete’s have their I’s dotted and T’s crossed, so I wised up a little by buying my annual membership in Triathlon BC. That way, I was able to show my membership card (or at least a digital version I had saved on my phone) and get my race kit in short order on the Saturday. I also left my bike in transition on Saturday to have one less thing to manage on Sunday morning.

Swim

I got in the water a little behind the crowd, and as they wanted to keep their schedule, they started the countdown before I had gotten in up to my waist. I think I lost 30 seconds to a minute from the gun start before I crossed the finish line. There were many first-timers according to an informal ‘hands-raised’ poll before the start, and it showed in terms of the early swim melee. One guy was doing a backstroke, which I do recommend if you’re panicked or not feeling up to a faster stroke, but is terrible for navigating through a crowd.

A few times I saw an opening and tried to ‘sprint’ swim to spots where there would be less crowding, but somehow, I struggled to recover my breathing after these bursts. I felt well trained in swimming this season, as I had gotten plenty of open-water swims in, so I wonder if the wetsuit (which I didn’t train much in) somehow affects my breath control. All through the race there were collisions, it only improved marginally after the first few hundred meters. Still, I finished in good time – 19:42.

Bike

I really enjoyed the bike this year. I passed, I got passed, but overall I felt like I had a good speed for the majority of the time. The big hill climbs were tough, but for a BC bike course, I find this to be a pretty forgiving one. I did lose my chain after a turn, which wouldn’t have been a big deal if not for the fact that I have a chain catcher – not only did this not prevent the chain from falling off, it made it a lot harder to get back on. I figure I could have lost as much as 4-5 minutes due to this mechanical problem. Time: 49:34

Run

I came out of the second transition feeling pretty strong with the idea that I was moving at a good clip. That didn’t last though. The run course has the most subtle incline on the way out, but the good news is you notice the downhill once you hit the second turn around. I had the good fortune of being told when we only had 1.3km left by someone who had a tracker, and I shared that info with a woman who had caught up to me. We ran side by side for a stretch, and when we figured we had less than a kilometre to go, I explained the German concept of Endspurt to her (a burst of speed toward the end that you can magically manage because of your hope to be finished), then I demonstrated it.

Time: 35:32.

Conclusions/Lessons Learned

Total time: 1:52:50. I blew away last year’s time of 2:12:09, but 2023 me was faster still with 1:44:41. The only real improvement I made was my T2 transition, which I shaved a few seconds off. I do feel that if I hadn’t gotten a late start on the swim (because I detoured to get a good luck kiss from my wife – totally worth it!) I might have had a better swim time (19:03 vs 19:42). Bringing my bike in for a pre-race tune-up might have saved me the problem of the chain popping off, and might have resulted in a faster bike time (47:45 vs 49:34 = 1:49 difference, well below what I estimate the delay was). Where I could really use some improvement is taking my wetsuit off in T1. I thought about taking the timing chip off my ankle to make it easier, but I heard a horror story earlier in the day about someone who left theirs behind. I didn’t want that to be me. On the bike I passed a lot of people who swam without wetsuits; I’ve always sworn that the speed increase a wetsuit gives you makes up for the time lost taking it off, but maybe I need to re-visit that.

I found my older medals in my bag, and I’m really happy to have three-peated this event.