UBC Triathlon Club

Winners Crowned.

2011-11-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

Seven of the club's bravest riders faced some less than ideal conditions for this morning's brick. With no major surprises or upsets, the Fall Classic point series has officialy ended, with the overall titles going to Barry and Claire who have had early leads since the first couple events. This turns out to be rather convenient as their names were already engraved on the trophies earlier this week.

Kevin tried to make up for a bad night's sleep by getting as much caffeine in his system as he possibly could. The jury is still out on how beneficial this might have proved. Seth gave Sherry a 30 second lead, hoping to catch up and draft later in the race. Seth lent Barry his aero helmet for the duration of the race, and as a result he found it much harder to catch up than planned. He managed to just edge out Sherry at the finish. Barry used the helmet to his full advantage, finishing just 10 seconds behind Matt's recorded time from an equally wet and breezy course on Wednesday.

Kyuwon hit six red lights, a funeral procession, a duck crossing and had to stop for 3 different elderly couples crossing the road. Claire was seen sprinkling tacks on the road before the event in order to further guarantee her victory and is suspected of tampering with the traffic lights as well. She took things a little too far, even interfering with the men's race by resetting Johnson's Garmin and costing him precious seconds at the start line. The next unofficial Point Series will be the beer mile, December 2nd, so there are still plenty of reasons to be training hard. And with only 15 or 16 weeks until the start of the spring point series, no off season is really permitted.

Overall Time
Kyuwon 28:30:00
Claire 23:58:00
Sherry 26:52:00
Kevin 23:18:00
Seth 25:45:00
Johnson 25:03:00
Barry 20:13:00
Victoria Gilbert 23:32:00
Matt Reeve 20:03:00
Vincent Lavallee 20:57:00

Leaving the brick competitors behind in Vancouver, an even larger group of club members (8 + one alumna) headed to Lynn Valley for a trail race this morning. Despite course marking problems and persistent rain, everyone seemed to have a pretty good race and get at least a pair of socks from the draw prize table at the finish line. Matt even won free entry into a trail race for next August; seconds after exclaiming "Man, I really don't want to win this". It turns out whoever is standing next to Brendan during draws for free race entries always wins. Take note in case you plan on attending any bike shop openings or similar events.

Naiely originally ran as "Vincent Laval" but after undergoing a rigorous gender and identity verification process after the race was allowed to keep her title of third woman overall in the 24k. In future she plans to actually enter races herself and save much trouble at the finish line.

Overall Place and Times

24k
2 01:51:10 Carl Reilly
4 01:58:52 Liam Harrap
5 02:00:05 Brendan Naef
12 02:14:37 Jake Alleyn
23 02:31:22 Naiely Cabrera

12k
1 00:56:54 Jonathan Heinz
2 01:02:00 Matt Reeve
3 01:07:23 Kaley Strachan
6 01:09:39 Kelsey Knoll

There was also a 19k but no one really cares how that race went as it was reported that very few triathletes competed in this event.

Girls Dominate Swim. Matt Tries His Best.

2011-11-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

A familiar pattern repeated itself with this morning's 500m swim. The four fastest times all went to the ladies, with Jen Bhatla taking the event in 7:10, Kendra hot on her heels in 7:11 and Steph Flynn in 7:17. Karin's 7:29 didn't leave her far behind the pack. Kendra might have been able to shave that crucial second off had she not biked to campus this morning; her house is estimated to be 30 or 40k from campus. In a post race interview she revealed that she kind of felt "eh", and that after the event she echoed a similar sentiment. One can only imagine what Kendra might be able to do on a good day without an exhausting commute beforehand.

Also of note, on her way to winning the event, Jen crushed both of her times from the 2010/2011 Point Series by over 25 seconds, a significant improvement.

Kevin Chiarot was the fastest new club member, swimming 7:30 on the dot. Equally impressive was Liam, who took a full four minutes off of his personal best. Another four and he should have Jen in sight.

Winston was heard to remark that the event felt a bit like a Polar Bear swim on account of the beautifully clear but far from warm morning. And he wasn't even trying to squeeze in a late Aquathon, where the first lap of the SUB was cold enough to cause a mild headache. A few degrees colder and a Speedo might freeze to a man's body. For these and other practical reasons, Aquathon make-ups are now banned after October 31st.

Matt Reeve did not beat any of the faster ladies. But he did set the club record for the Aquathon, albeit a bit late to claim an additional 25 points. He will be forgiven for relaxing the pace a little bit in the pool to save precious energy for the run. The following statement was attributed to Matt just last Thursday "I don't know how fast I'll be able to run off of an all out 500, but I think I might give it a go to see if I can crush Barry". I think you did alright, Matt. And if your 500 was all out, then there is no excuse to have finished 4th overall. His 16:53 in the Aquathon makes him the first club member to complete the event under 17 minutes.

You now have only one more chance to make up ground on your nearest competitors in the Point Series with The Brick. Not that anyone can predict these things this far out- but the forecast calls for a dry day, and not too cold for mid-November. So plan on bringing your nicest set of wheels and don't worry too much about getting your best set of spandex dirty. At least give yourself a challenging time to beat next spring.

Matt Reeve 7:25:00
Kevin Chiarot 7:30:00
Vincent Lavallee7:32:00
Barry Claman 7:45:00
Daniel Salamanca8:49:00
Winston Guo 9:00:00
John Heinz 9:16:00
Jesse Chao 10:30:00
Derek 11:18:00
Liam Harrap 11:28:00
Jiri 12:22:00
Seth Bluman 13:24:00
Jen Bhatla 7:10:00
Kendra Swain 7:11:00
Stephanie Flynn 7:17:00
Karin Olafson 7:29:00
Brittany Buchanan8:16:00
Claire Askew 8:44:00
Tal 8:58:00
Kelsey Knoll 9:02:00
Greta Raymond 9:02:00
Annie Mauer 9:10:00
Jen Moroz 9:12:00
Becca 9:27:00
Victoria Gilbert9:32:00
Keely Hammond 10:42:00

Third Tree On Your Right

2011-11-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Fall Classic is rapidly drawing to a close, with 3/4's of events now having already been contested. So if someone is immediately ahead of you in the overall standings, you had better have a good breakfast on Sunday and give your best effort in the 500m swim if you want to make up some ground.

For several club members this was their first ever timed 5k, so new personal bests were assured. Both men's and women's course records were eclipsed, thanks in part to having a bit of daylight left for the event and a break in the rain just in time for the race.

Jen Moroz became the first female to break 19 minutes on this course (including the impressive performance of professional triathlete Amy Kirkham), running 18:54. The men's lead swapped several times, with John and Barry each taking roughly 500m at the lead before switching off. This pattern continued for four and a half laps. Both finished in personal best times. The overall winner would like to thank Barry for pushing the pace and putting the record within reach. It's hard (not to mention lonely!) running alone. If the landscapers of the endowment lands had planted that finish line tree 18 inches farther to the West, Vince's "run under 17:00" challenge would have been a breeze.

An unknown competitor was seen clearing a few wet leaves off of the street and folding in the mirror of a parked vehicle during the warmup lap of the course. They were accused (and rightfully so) of taking point series events too seriously. 100 points have been subtracted from their overall total.

Special thanks to Johnson for handling all of the timing, and the essential countdown at the start line. I saw you at the finish line tree on lap one, so you must have been moving pretty quickly to get there. The clipboard must not affect your stride at all. For the three club members currently competing in Las Vegas, the first 5k of the 30k run portion of your race will be used for your point series time. Even if Naiely did the 5k in advance. So run hard right from the start.

John Heinz 16:41:00
Barry Claman 17:00:00
Max Stallkamp 17:31:00
Daniel Salamanca17:50:00
Vincent Lavallee18:01:00
Matt Reeve 18:02:00
Drew Senay 18:05:00
Liam Harrap 18:06:00
Ben Kresnyak 18:35:00
Jen Moroz 18:54:00
Dylan Stephanian19:31:00
Kevin Chiarot 20:20:00
Seth Bluman 20:34:00
Jake Alleyne 20:47:00
Mirko Moeller 20:49:00
Grahm Clark 20:50:00
Paul Rozehnal 21:29:00
Victoria Gilbert21:35:00
Thomas Belshein 21:43:00
Kelsey Knoll 21:56:00
Martin Kozinsky 22:22:00
Stephanie Flynn 22:24:00
Sherry Gu 22:32:00
Keely Hammond 22:47:00
Greta Raymond 22:54:00
Theresa Price 22:58:00
Jen Bhatia 23:39:00
Brittany Buchanan24:12:00
Winston Guo: 19:something. Run the event on the proper day if you want an actual time.

IONA Time Trial

2011-11-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

A small but rather fit group of cyclists rode down to the Iona Island causeway on Saturday to compete in the fifth event of the point series.

Claire managed to finish the course 30 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor and her already sizable lead in the point series is now even more secure. Even Eddy's long legs couldn't keep up with Claire's time trial pace, she finished 3 seconds ahead of him. But with three events left, the competition for overall lead female is far from over. The spring Point series winner, Victoria was next in 19:26, very much still in the running for the overall title. It was a small group of competitors on the girl's side, the other pair of riders finished in exactly the same time (21:10 for Sherry and Jen Bhatla). Accusations of drafting and illegal pacing would be thrown around if they hadn't started at least 15 seconds apart.

Barry Claman (15:37) was the fastest among the guys, not an unexpected performance considering his dominance in the uphill bike time trial a month ago. And Max, despite putting in some major mileage riding to work on a weighted commuter, was still 30 seconds behind Derrick who has spent a comparative amount of time on the couch.

Barry should perhaps consider himself fortunate that his main competition, the second and third place finishers were one week away from the ITU world championships and were therefore were likely taking it a bit easy and unable to put in absolute maximum effort on the bike. Brendan was only 2 seconds behind in 15:39, while Carl also managed to break the sixteen minute barrier, finishing in 15:59.

Barry Claman 15:37:00
Brendan Naef 15:39:00
Carl Reilly 15:59:00
Derrick Lee 16:19:00
Max Stalkamp 16:49:00
Kevin Chiarot 17:15:00
Johnson Jia 17:24:00
Chris Hard 17:37:00
Winston Guo 18:38:00
Eddy Wu 19:00:00
Seth Bluman 21:15:00
Claire Askew 18:57:00
Victoria Gilbert19:26:00
Jen Bhatla 20:10:00
Sherry 21:10:00

AFTER 4 LAPS

2011-10-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

Barry Claman 4:53:00
Ben Kresnyak 5:07:00
Carl Reilly 5:07:00
Chris Hart 5:52:00
Daniel Salamanca5:14:00
Derrick Lee 5:43:00
Drew Senay 5:00:00
Jesse Chao 5:41:00
John Heinz 4:48:00
Liam Harrap 5:23:00
Matt Reeve 5:15:00
Matt Ridley 5:55:00
Seth Bluman 5:47:00
Winston Guo 5:21:00
Jake Allele 5:52:00
Jameson Cheong 5:53:00
James M 5:24:00
Paul Roz 5:47:00
Matt Tunnicliffe5:32:00
Annie Maurer 6:26:00
Claire Askew 5:52:00
Jen Bhatla 6:48:00
Keely Hammond 6:19:00
Naiely Cabrera 5:56:00
Sherry Gu 6:36:00
Theresa Price 6:32:00
Victoria Gilbert6:12:00
Allison MacDonald6:37:00
Kelsey Knoll 6:22:00
Steph Flynn 6:16:00

Aquathon

2011-10-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

Preliminary Aquathon results. Race report to follow!

Swim time Run time Finish time
Barry 07:53:00 09:46:00 17:39:00
Eddy 08:04:00 10:40:00 18:44:00
Max 09:14:00 09:31:00 18:45:00
Kevin 07:50:00 11:11:00 19:01:00
Naiely 08:08:00 10:54:00 19:02:00
Ben 09:30:00 09:42:00 19:12:00
Daniel 09:14:00 10:01:00 19:15:00
Jen B 07:40:00 11:40:00 19:20:00
Winston 09:12:00 10:23:00 19:35:00
Claire 08:10:00 11:29:00 19:39:00
Victoria09:17:00 11:08:00 20:25:00
Kyuwon 08:12:00 12:38:00 20:50:00
Annie 09:09:00 12:13:00 21:22:00
Keeley 10:23:00 11:01:00 21:24:00
Jesse 10:32:00 11:20:00 21:52:00
Sherry 10:27:00 11:47:00 22:14:00
Theresa 11:07:00 12:00:00 23:07:00
Johnson 09:12:00 15:17:00 24:29:00
Seth 15:53:00 12:51:00 28:44:00

Point Series Begins

2011-10-11T09:45:00.001-07:00

The Fall classic has officially begun, with a near record 33 participants competing in the uphill bike time trial. The top three performances by both men and women all came from club members who are very familiar with this particular hill and have placed well in the event before. Over a dozen new members took part, making their debut in the point series. The best performance by a new member was Joel, with an impressive 4:38. He finished 10 seconds ahead of Eddy who vows to make up the difference during the aquathon, an event for which Eddy has focused all of his training over the past few weeks. He even got a VO2 and lactate test done specifically to see what threshold he should be at for the three laps of the SUB following the swim portion of the aquathon. Everyone knows you must wear a hat for V02 tests.

Sherwood wanted to save his tired little legs for a cyclo-cross race the next day, so he did not allow me the chance to out climb him (we both finished in 4:20 last semester). He was however, enormously useful as the starter and timer. Rumor has it he will be making an attempt at breaking Barry’s record later this week, on fresh legs. Since Sherwood has never run a step in his life nor been seen in a swimsuit since high school gym class; he is not too worried about any participation points that he might miss for doing the event late.

Sherwood training on a much shorter hill. Vince's best Tour de France spectator impression.

It wasn’t the warmest morning, so keeping warm at the start was essential. Matt explained the benefits of quick, high intensity warm-ups before such short events. Fabian took his message to heart, riding all the way to the Tolmie hill for a trial run. It is still undecided whether his Tolmie repeats did more to tire him out or warm him up.

Kim and Kory had some of the fastest times of the day (5:09, first woman) and 4:24 (third men’s). Their good performances are almost certainly due to the fact that they wisely chose to opt out of the “warm up ride” on SW marine drive beforehand that really only served to chill most of the riders even further. Since the uphill time trial last February took place on a day where the high reached about -3, there was really no real reason to complain.

Barry was 5 seconds away from his own course record, and a time that would have earned him an extra 25 points under the new rules for the Fall classic. This is likely because he did all of training rides in the flatter areas of Vancouver and he forgot his lucky red helmet. (see below)

On both the men’s and women’s sides, it is still rather too early to say anyone has a significant lead in the race series. Matt and Barry are the only two men to ever win the race series, and finished first and second place in this event, just 12 seconds apart. Only one second separated Kim and Claire, the top two on the women’s side. With the new scoring system for the point series it’s hard to get a significant lead on another competitor in the shorter events. After the 10k time trial on Iona Road it should be a lot easier to see the separation between the leaders in the point series.
So find whoever may be just above you in the standings and let a little air out of their tires while they aren’t watching or loosen a few spokes if you can.

Barry 4:03:00
Matt 4:15:00
Kory 4:26:00
Dylan 4:33:00
Derrick 4:34:00
John 4:35:00
Fabian 4:37:00
Joel 4:38:00
Eddy 4:48:00
Jesse 4:50:00
Kevin 5:01:00
Daniel 5:03:00
Winston5:06:00
Johnson 5:08:00
Kim 5:09:00
Claire 5:10:00
Gaelan 5:11:00
Kellen 5:25:00
Victoria5:26:00
Nathan 5:40:00
Jen B 5:42:00
Annie 5:53:00
Naiely 5:53:01
Sam 5:55:00
Jorge 6:02:00
Rachel 6:07:00
Erika 6:12:00
Sherry 6:15:00
Liz 6:29:00
Kyuwon 6:29:01
Adrianna7:20:00
Jasmine 7:40:00
Karin 5:58

2011-10-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Four club members decided to head to Grand Coulee, Washington. It wasn’t easy to get there; they were tempted by brothels disguised as espresso stands, free coffee at every other rest area in Washington State and giving up the whole endeavor to tour wineries in the lesser know Okanogan region of Washington.The allure for Kim was to try her hand at her second Iron distance event in 3 weeks, while her three companions wanted to spend just a bit extra on the entry fee and cover 5k in the water, 200 on the bike and 50k on foot.

To break up the drive and allow Johnson maximum time to chase around bike parts being FeDexed back and forth across the country; the first night brought us only just North of Seattle. Aside from the Boeing factory, Everett’s economy seems to run off competitive bail bond offices constantly striving to free up space in the local jails. They likely have a dozen core clients that support the local economy whenever Boeing isn’t getting enough airplane orders. Being able to explore the area in daylight, it turns out there was a bail bond office across the street from the motel with another half a block away. Both offices claim to have the absolute lowest rates. Another indicator of the crime rate in the local area came in the form of a friendly note pinned to the door of our room after returning from dinner:

The four athletes managed to escape Everett with their wallets and all bikes still intact. It did require relegating Brendan to the floor while the bikes comfortably shared a bed in the motel. After a breakfast of oatmeal and donuts individually sealed in little plastic bags, we were off. Sufficient time was needed to track down Johnson’s brand new race wheels which have seen more of the United States than he has during their short time in the care of FedEx. Apparently, Grand Coulee is not on any major shipping routes. And when you change the destination address every hour, your package can really accumulate some miles. The package is now a platinum member of three airlines and has enough travel reward points accumulated to spend each of the next six months at a different Mexican resort.

Lunch before such a race is an important affair, not to be taken lightly. Upon arriving in the Grand Coulee Dam area, it appeared that no local restaurants served anything even resembling a pasta dish. The Mexican restaurant was ruled out; an Oyster burger at a microbrewery the previous night had been enough of a nutritional risk. Johnson inquired about any carbohydrate-based dishes at one dinner, and left rather dissatisfied with the menu. He did however assure the waitress that we would be back in two days, after the race, for salad (or soup) at the very least. Johnson was taking nutrition a lot more seriously today, perhaps drinking half a gallon of milk while waiting for us at the border crossing had reminded him just how sensitive the digestive system can be.

We finally settled on a place recommended by the race directors, even though steak seemed to dominate the menu. The New York steak ended up being the best choice of fuel, followed closely by Salisbury. No one was overly concerned, because the local Rotary club had organized a spaghetti dinner for that evening.

In the end, a local embroidery store in Grand Coulee agreed to accept any shipments for racers. Johnson’s wheels were almost certainly worth more than the entire store inventory of two dozen cheer leading uniforms and one rack of ill fitting sweaters. The lady behind the counter had a sense of humor at least, asking Johnson: “Race wheels?” “Two boxes?” (pause for Johnson’s exclamation of joy). And jokingly she added, “Yeah, they never arrived”.

Plans to pay $15 to camp in the field next to a local elementary school fell through. Which is all right because it may not have been ideal pre-race accommodation. We were a bit confused, it could have been a secondary school and there may have been luxury safari tents set up, but not that we came across. No one was overly eager to wake up in a field and eat breakfast under the glow of a headlamp anyway.

By some string of miracles we managed to get the last motel room in town. We’ll never know just how many miracles because the bearded man at the front desk was only 10 minutes into what was surely a two hour story about his friend from Saskatchewan who was going to come to town but had to cancel but might still be coming and was a great guy and... In the end he interrupted himself and blurted out “the room’s $110”.

When we asked for extra coffee, he scurried to the back room to get some. When Kim pointed out it was decaf, he proceeded to present a little skit of what we would look like the next day. He did a few slow, shuffling strides behind the front desk with a glazed expression on his face “you’d lose the race!” he exclaimed. Who knew caffeine could make such a difference.

I liked the place because it had a pool. Never having covered 5k in the water before, I wanted a good time estimate so that I would know what pace to shoot for in the lake the next morning. Being a 10m motel pool, I knew it would require a lot of flip turns but I was prepared for the challenge. And besides, we still had 8 hours until the start of the race. Brendan had a clipboard, a watch and was all ready to time my splits when Kim made us come inside to help Johnson get into his compression pajamas (a 30 minute process, even with assistance).

Getting the new wheels on the bike consumed the rest of the afternoon, along with getting race number stickers perfectly applied to helmets and bike frames in such a manner as to create as little drag as possible. We brought a little tiny iron and a pair of tweezers to smooth out any wrinkles caused by hasty race number application. This process does not, of course apply to the number attached to your race belt which everyone knows should be as crumpled as possible.

That evening we ran into the race announcer at Safeway while getting supplies for the next day’s breakfast. He was picking up several cans of Red Bull and dozens of snacks. He swears being on your feet at the announcer’s booth for hours can be as exhausting as the race. When we asked if he had any races coming up, he gestured at his belly and expected us to understand he wasn’t in top form. Interestingly enough, this occurred 3 or 4 times over the course of the weekend, several different people we talked to would point to their stomach when we asked if they might be taking part in the race. I guess any slight bulge is enough of an excuse to get out of racing. One man from the Rotary club at the pasta dinner did however assure us that while he was not racing, he did have a Bow Flex machine in his basement.

I suppose when you have a race that starts and finishes at a Dam you should plan on some nearby hills, otherwise the landscape would be unable to hold back all that water that you have just been swimming in. To get to the package pickup, we got to see the rather steep first mile of the bike course that leads from the lake up to the main highway. While we didn’t get a chance to drive the course, we would learn that miles 3-6 had even more of an incline. But you had to smile, because there was a photographer at the top:

The rest of the bike course did not disappoint, rolling hills for the first half gradually gave way to flatter sections with headwinds later in the race. With four events (Olympic, Half, Iron, Slightly-Longer-Than Iron) with staggered starts taking place on the course and only 200 athletes in the whole field, there were large gaps between cyclists out on the course. And no volunteers were screaming out what they had in their hand at aid stations. You often had to actually ask for what you needed, maybe even slow down slightly; an unforgivable error at some larger races. I kind of preferred this aid station format and better yet, you got to have access to your special needs bag 3 times during the bike!

That’s not to say the volunteers weren’t enthusiastic, they couldn’t have been more helpful. The local high school football team was charged with racking bikes in transition 2. Small races are a lot different, nicer in some ways. The entry process was certainly a lot more flexible, it was possible to sign up at 5PM the day before the race. The one man who took advantage of this late sign up entered the longest distance he could of course. And security must be less of an issue in remote areas, because the fencing around the bikes overnight was orange plastic about three feet off the ground. The only guard I could see was an old woman dozing in her chair. And yet nothing was out of place the next morning.

It seems I forgot to mention the swim. After my disappointment of being unable to accomplish a trial run in the Motel pool, I really lost all enthusiasm for anything that was to occur before Transition 1. There was a sign posted the day before, “Water Temperature: 59 degrees”, but it felt much warmer. Brendan was hoping for some fast guys to draft. He got none. All I know is I got caught in a pack of Iron distance athletes who started 20 minutes behind me, and Kim and I swam stroke for stroke for the last 100m, coming out of the water together. She then beat me by 9 seconds in transition. It was cold. I needed a sweater. Also, without wetsuit strippers, I’m useless.

My saving grace was a thin white rope that marked almost the entire swim course. You hardly ever needed to sight, you could just follow the rope that was about 6 feet under water, anchored to buoys every 100 feet or so. I can guarantee that I would have covered an extra few hundred meters had the rope not been there. I must have done better in the swim than I expected because usually there are few bikes still in the rack when I get out of the water, but this time I only noticed that Brendan’s was gone. He was motivated to swim quickly because apparently the reservoir has been heavily contaminated by Teck Cominco’s large smelter just upriver in Trail, B.C. Getting out the water five minutes sooner drastically lowers your chance of serious health problems arising from contact with the reservoir water. Johnson was in there a few minutes longer than I was, if he starts growing gills or loses his teeth, I’ll at least have some warning. All of the lawsuits against the mining company were from the mid 2000’s, so I’m sure they’ve cleaned up their smelter at least a little bit since then.

The run course was simple enough, two loops on a pancake flat course following the river. There was a single steep climb and descent up to a bridge near the dam at the halfway point and again just before the finish. Otherwise the entire course was along a flat stretch of gravel road. Having diligently done our research pre-race, we had discovered that the best strategy was apparently to run along the packed center strips of gravel rather than the loose gravel edges. Since no one tried the alternative, we will never know which method is truly faster. To give the athletes better value for their money, the race directors added just a bit of extra distance to the course. This put the marathon distance at around twenty seven and a half miles and an extra 4 kilometers were added to the 50k course. Per mile, this race was already just about half the cost of an Ironman brand race; this added value was much appreciated and welcomed by all out on the run course.

Tired legs find the bridge much higher over the river than it appears in this image.

For reasons known only to the U.S. parks service, there is an interpretive laser show projected onto the side of the dam every night for 6 months of the year. It certainly was not a tourist draw, none were to be seen. I’m also fairly sure the show was not put on by request of the local residents, who I am sure are very pleased to have loud speakers broadcast facts about the history of the area on a nightly basis. The finish of my run was timed perfectly to coincide with the laser show. It started just as I was running over the bridge during the last mile of the course.

Essentially, the dam becomes a kilometer wide canvas for projected images of the dam under construction, Washington’s floating head and poor animations of salmon, turbines and flowing water. The show is narrated from the point of view of either the river itself “I am the mighty Columbia” or the Dam “I provide 6800 Mega Watts of power”. It was, by far, the strangest setting for a race finish that I have ever seen. I couldn’t even enjoy the laser show because I had to keep checking my Garmin to see if I could bring my pace down for a last burst of speed (at that point, anything under 5:30 kilometers). You have to look good going through the finish line, even if you were barely shuffling ten minutes prior.

Johnson had pre-ordered a one liter IV online while registering for the race, to be administered at the finish line. Guaranteed to promote quick recovery. I would have joined him, but $35 can get you a half hour with a massage therapist or a case of protein bars, both better alternatives in my mind. The wool blanket seen below was an added bonus, the temperature did drop quickly just after sunset.

As for results, all of us finished in the top 4 overall in our events, with Kim second overall for women in the Iron distance. I can’t recall who won the Super Triathlon. I tried calling the local newspaper, but it did not serve to clarify things. The following image was captured at the post-race banquet. There is a chance that the two men pictured did rather well, but it's hard to say because I think the photo gives a distorted perspective of the size of the trophies.

And so we headed back to Vancouver, with more race T-shirts, backpacks and ball caps than we knew what to do with. Stopping by the finish line after the awards ceremony, we also managed to get several hundred Hammer Gels and a bunch of Bananas from the race director. And to think I felt guilty pocketing 5 gels at the last aid station on the course the day before. We only stopped by the finish to see if special needs bags could be picked up, but they were nowhere to be found. In the end, I think it was a fair trade. I have been using Hammer products in place of pancake syrup, ice cream topping, toothpaste, sandwich spread and steak sauce for two weeks now. I’ve never felt more energized.

We abandoned Johnson at the border in Blaine so that he could track down even more products purchased over the internet. We can only hope he declared them at the border, customs officers only have so much patience. I think it was carrying bags for the race wheels that he was picking up. These wheels have made Johnson like a new father. He has a crib ordered for them as well, their own linens, a special 5 gallon drum of wheel cleaning product and he has even set aside an entire room in his apartment for them. His travelling companions are enormously grateful that he decided to sign up for this race months ago and that he didn’t mind us piggy backing on his race plans. Next year, we should send the whole club. They have every distance except a sprint (sorry, Barry) a beautiful course, great draw prizes and the laser show is worth the trip all on its own.

Fuel for the drive back. So that we wouldn't be tempted to stop at any espresso stands.

Fall Classic Race Series, 2011!

2011-09-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is ready, because tomorrow, the 5th edition of the UBC Triathlon Club race series begins!

For those of you who don't know what this is. Each semester we hold 8 races:

Oct 1 - Uphill Bike
Oct 5 - Uphill run
Oct 16 - Aquathon (Swim Run)
Oct 19 - Mile run
Oct 29 - Iona 10.2K TT
Nov 2 - 5K run
Nov 6 - 500m swim
Nov 12 - Brick (Bike Run)
Dec 2 - Beer Mile

and keep track of the results in order to have an overall winner!

How do the points work? The winner (Male and Female) of each event gets 1000 points. And the % off from the winner is the amount of points you lose. If you run 10% slower than the winner, you get 900 points. For a more detailed description of the point breakdown, click here.

One addition to the point breakdown, new this semester, if any team record is broken, that individual shall receive 25 bonus points!

The series starts with the uphill bike time trial. People take this one seriously, so much so that some participants even removed their bar tape last year to lighten their bike. Embarrassingly this only achieved him a second place finish.

With the arrival of the race serious, individuals lifestyles will take a bit of a change. Everyone has been pretty relaxed over the summer with the minor B races they have been doing (Subaru series, IMC, Grand Columbian) but now the real racing begins. Rumours have it that a one John Heinz has decided to take this race seriously. Following the fly in his soup at the Grand Columbian, he is reported to be tapering for tomorrows uphill bike time trial. John has taken a new mantra for this semester, he's not going to date, go out to bars, drink coffee, or engage in high risk activities like water skiing or eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Most of the time he just wants to rest up for the race – it's now his job, even if it's not a high-paying one.

Who will win this semester? Will the return of Matt Reeve (Winner Fall 09, Spring 10, Fall 10) prove to be too much for the men to overcome as he attempts to make up for the disappointing interruption in his reign of victories last semester during his absence? Or has Barry's new found taste for victory (As the Spring 2011 winner) inspired a new level of performance from of him? Or will there be a new challenger? Brendan Naef is the newly crowned Super Triathlete, finding ironman just to be a little too easy. But can some random man really pull out the victory? Or will John Heinz running prowess finally allow him to pull out the victory after setting every run record last semester. John fears his running will not be as dominant as Carl Reilly who may have the edge on the flat routes. After all, these two were quoted as saying, "We were chatting during out run on Sunday" without mentioning that the run was a trail half marathon in which they came 1st and 2nd.

Or will it be a new surprise? A young gun born in the 90's that isn't even on our radar yet that steals the show from all our seasoned veterans.

On the woman's side there is a lot of excitement as well. In the uber competitive sex, there has yet to be a repeat winner capable of defending their championship. This semester will see two champions, Lauren Sagadore and Victoria Gilbert returning to try and claim the prize, however, Naielly Cabrera is ready to take on the challenge. Gearing up for the long course world championships in November, she has even started to attack her rivals outside of the race course, hosting a party on Thursday night with the hopes that her rivals will be hung over from the epicness of her household festivities. Kim Seder and Stephanie Flynn are also gearing up for the race series. Both podium finishers with hopes to move up the ladder and one day hoist up the Vincent Lavallée Cup!

Don't miss the first event Saturday October 1st! We will start off with the team photo at West Point Cycles. Meet at the club office at 9 and ride out together to the store, followed by the uphill bike time trial and then the welcome back bbq back on campus!

Past Winners

Fall 2009: Matt Reeve / Lauren Sagadore

Spring 2010: Matt Reeve / Claire Haddock

Fall 2010: Matt Reeve / Victoria Gilbert

Spring 2011: Barry Claman / Kaley Strachan

Team Records

2011-09-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

My main motivation for the race series was to allow people to gauge their improvement and to rank themselves. As such I was reading through a cycling blog where they described a local hill ascent and how they had made a teamwide spreadsheet with the individual records.

As such, I decided to do the same. Let me know if you have any recent PB's that I missed, this is obviously not a complete list. Also, lets keep it pb's since starting triathlon. I know I like to talk about the glory days but those records don't count.

If I missed you and you would like to add your name send me an e-mail at: vlavallee @ gmail . com

Also, if you improve on your time, make sure to let me know. I will add a link to this post on the side panel of the blog for easy reference.

Triple Crown Completers

Derrick Lee 11

Kim Seder 10,11

Kory Seder 10,11

Andrew Wight 10,11

Vincent Lavallée 10,11

Matt Reeve 10

Jesse Chao 11

Winston Guo 10,11

Brendan Naef 11

Elliot Holtham 10

Shauna Gammon 11

Patrick Cafferty 10

Eric Suess 10

Scott Chris 10

Carl Reilly 10

Jared Penner 10

Celeste Pakstas 10

Victoria Gilbert 10

Mile Run
1	John Heinz	4:47
2	Barry Claman	4:53
3	Drew Senay	5:00
4	Matt Reeve	5:03
5	Jared Penner	5:05
6	Vincent Lavallee	5:05
7	Nathaniel Janzen	5:07
8	Ben Kresnyak	5:07
9	Winstorm Guo	5:11
10	Tiger Ye	5:14
11	Dylan Stephanian	5:18
12	Kellen Kjera	5:21
13	Liam Harrap	5:23
14	Brendan Neaf	5:24
15	Dirk Haupt	5:24
16	Kory Seder	5:24
17	James M..	5:24
18	Andrew Wight	5:26
19	Thomas Belshein	5:28
20	Tobi Volkmann	5:30
21	Matt Tunnicliffe	5:32
22	Scott Chris	5:33
23	Tyler Filteau	5:37
24	James Montgomery	5:37
25	Eddie Wu	5:38
26	Jesse Chao	5:38
27	Derrick Lee	5:44
28	Rodrigo Samayoa	5:46
29	Claire Haddock	5:47
30	Seth B	5:47
31	Paul Roze	5:47
32	Jake Alleyne	5:48
33	Reza	5:48
34	Melanie Van Soeren	5:51
35	Claire Askew	5:52
36	Chris Hart	5:52
37	Jameson Cheong	5:53
70	Stephanie Urness	5:54
38	Matt Ridley	5:55
39	Ceilidh Curtis	5:59
40	Kaley Strachan	5:59
41	Naiely Cabrera	5:59
42	Victoria Gilbert	6:07
43	Rachel Schoeler	6:09
44	Lauren	6:16
45	Jeanie Zabukovec	6:16
46	Stephanie Flynn	6:16
47	Fabian Jankovic	6:18
48	Keely Hammond	6:19
49	Greta Raymant	6:20
50	Karin Olafson	6:21
51	Alana Schick	6:22
52	Kelsey Knoll	6:22
53	Annie Mauer	6:26
54	Ried Kimmett	6:28
55	Sarah Klain	6:28
56	Mel Thompson	6:29
57	Kimberly Seder	6:30
58	Theresa Price	6:32
59	Lauren Sagadore	6:35
60	Sherry Gu	6:36
61	Allison MacDonald	6:37
62	Kyuwon Kim	6:48
63	Jen Bhatla	6:48
64	Celeste Pakstas	7:07
65	Kyuwon Kim	7:16
66	Brittany Buchanan	7:22
67	Kaylee R	7:24
68	Debbie Poon	8:34
69	Laura Freeman	9:04




10.2k Bike TT
1	Kory Seder	14:29	Fall 2010
2	Barry Claman	14:57	Fall 2009
3	Matt Reeve	15:05	Fall 2010
4	Branden Neaf	15:39	Fall 2011
5	Vincent Lavallee	15:47	Spring 2010
6	Sherwood Plant	15:48	Fall 2010
7	Dylan Stephanian	15:52	Fall 2010
8	Kellen Kjera	15:54	Fall 2010
9	Carl Reilly	15:59	Fall 2011
10	Andrew Wight	16:10	Spring 2011
11	Derrick Lee	16:16	Fall 2010
12	Kimberly Seder	16:48	Fall 2010
13	Max Stalkamp	16:49	Fall 2011
14	Tyler Filteau	16:53	Fall 2010
15	Winstorm Guo	16:57	Fall 2010
16	Kevin Chiarot	17:15	Fall 2011
17	Johnson Jia	17:24	Fall 2011
18	Eddy Wu	17:27	Fall 2010
19	John Heinz	17:34	Spring 2011
20	Scott Chris	17:35
21	Jesse Chao	17:36	Fall 2010
22	Chris Hart	17:37	Fall 2011
23	Victoria Gilbert	17:38	Fall 2010
24	Rodrigo Samayoa	17:50	Fall 2010
25	Jason	17:51	Fall 2010
26	Nathaniel Janzen	18:17
27	Celeste Pakstas	18:37
28	Melanie van Soeren	18:42	Fall 2010
29	Lauren Sagadore	18:47
30	Ben Kresnyak	18:53	Spring 2011
31	Stephanie Urness	18:56	Spring 2011
32	Claire Askew	18:57	Fall 2011
33	Claire Haddock	19:06
34	Stephanie Flynn	19:31	Spring 2011
35	Jen Moroz	19:59	Fall 2010
36	Rachel Schoeler	20:04	Fall 2010
37	Kaley Strachan	20:07	Spring 2011
38	Jen Bhatla	20:10	Fall 2010
39	Seanna Martin	20:31	Spring 2011
40	Kywon Kim	20:53	Fall 2010
41	Sherry Gu	21:10	Fall 2011
42	Seth Bluman	21:15	Fall 2011
43	Melanie Thompson	21:48
44	Laura Freeman	22:00	Fall 2010
45	Claudia T	22:10	Spring 2011
46	Karin Olafson	24;43



5K Run
1	John Heinz	16:41	Fall 2011
2	Barry Claman	17:00	Fall 2011
3	Max Stallcamp	17:01	Spring 2011
4	Carl Reilly	17:18	Fall 2010
5	Matt Reeve	17:37	Fall 2010
6	Vincent Lavallee	17:41	Spring 2011
7	Yue-Ching Cheng	17:41	Spring 2010
8	Daniel Salamanca	17:50	Fall 2011
9	Brendan Neaf	17:54	Fall 2010
10	Drew Senay	18:05	Fall 2011
11	Kellen Kjera	18:06	Fall 2010
12	Liam Harrap	18:06	Fall 2011
13	Navid	18:34	Fall 2010
14	Ben Kresnyak	18:35	Fall 2011
15	Winstorm Guo	18:35	Fall 2009
16	Nathaniel Janzen	18:43	Spring 2010
17	Chris Taplan	18:49
18	Jen Moroz	18:54	Fall 2011
19	James Montgomery	18:55	Fall 2010
20	Andrew Wight	19:04
21	Thomas Belshein	19:04	Spring 2011
22	Kaley Strachan	19:29	Spring 2011
23	Kory Seder	19:29	Spring 2010
24	Dylan Stephanian	19:31	Fall 2011
25	Scott Chris	19:36	Spring 2010
26	Dirk Haupt	19:55	Fall 2010
27	Eddy Wu	20:01
28	Jake Alleyne	20:06
29	Jesse Chao	20:06	Fall 2010
30	Kevin Chiarot	20:20	Fall 2011
31	Melanie van Soeren	20:21	Fall 2010
32	Rodrigo Samayoa	20:26	Spring 2011
33	Claire Haddock	20:28
34	Evan Cheng	20:32
35	Matt Robinson	20:32	Fall 2010
36	Seth Bluman	20:34	Fall 2011
37	Naiely Cabrera	20:41	Fall 2011
38	Lauren Slattery	20:46	Spring 2011
39	Mirko Moeller	20:49	Fall 2011
40	Grahm Clark	20:50	Fall 2011
41	Victoria Gilbert	20:59	Fall 2010
42	Katie Wadden	21:01	Fall 2010
43	Stephanie Urness	21:04	Spring 2011
44	Kim Seder	21:23	Spring 2011
45	Stephanie Flynn	21:23	Spring 2011
46	Karin Olafson	21:24	Fall 2010
47	Matt Ridley	21:24	Fall 2010
48	Theresa Price	21:27	Spring 2011
49	Keely Hammond	21:29	Spring 2011
50	Paul Rozehnal	21:29	Fall 2011
51	Rachel Schoeler	21:31	Fall 2010
52	Derrick Lee	21:42
53	Ceilidh Curtis	21:46
54	Greta Raymant	21:54
55	Kelsey Knoll	21:56	Fall 2011
56	Johnson Jia	22:11	Spring 2011
57	Martin Kozinsky	22:22	Fall 2011
58	Sherry Gu	22:24	Spring 2011
59	Lara Russel	22:30
60	Alana Schick	22:32
61	Melanie Thompson	22:37
62	Fabian Jankovic	22:41
63	Jasmine	22:55
64	Dina Bulfone	23:14	Spring 2011
65	Jen Bhatla	23:24	Spring 2011
66	Lauren Sagadore	23:25
67	Kyuwon Kim	23:45	Fall 2010
68	Lauren Riva	23:45	Spring 2011
69	Celeste Pakstas	24;08
70	Brittany Buchanan	24;12	Fall 2011
71	Annie Mauer	24;17
72	Mattias Krestschmer	24;23	Spring 2011
73	Kelsey Foote	24;34
74	Erica Weiss	30;07
75	Debbie Poon	32;30





Swim 500m
1	Derek Westra-Luney	6:09
2	Yue-Ching Cheng	6:23
3	Patrick Waters	6:33
4	Nathaniel Janzen	6:46
5	Alex Lush	6:55
6	Rachel Schoeler	6:56
7	Stephanie Flynn	6:56
8	Kory Seder	6:58
9	Kendra Swain	7:04
10	Vincent Lavallee	7:12
11	Scott Chris	7:19
12	Karin Olafson	7:20
13	Celeste Paskstas	7:22
14	Matt Reeve	7:31
15	Melanie Thompson	7:33
16	Jen Bhatla	7:35
17	Eddy Wu	7:45
18	Dylan Stephanian	7:45
19	Lauren Sagadore	7:49
20	Barry Claman	7:50
21	Jeanie Zabukovec	7:54
22	Matt Ridley	8:09
23	Branden Neaf	8:10
24	Claire Askew	8:23
25	Andrew Wight	8:29
26	Jen Moroz	8:30
27	Melanie van Soeren	8:35
28	Victoria Gilbert	8:40
29	Kywon Kim	8:41
30	Jorg Winter	8:44
31	Winston Guo	8:45
32	Navid	8:49
33	Kaley Strachan	8:58
34	Claire Haddock	8:59
35	Kim Seder	8:59
36	John Heinz	8:59
37	Lara Russel	9:17
38	Greta Raymant	9:18
39	Derick Lee	9:25
40	Kristry	9:29
41	Stephanie Urness	9:29
42	Johnson Jia	9:39
43	Ben Kresnyak	9:40
44	Kellen Kjera	10:00
45	Max Stallkamp	10:00
46	Allison MacDonald	10:05
47	Tiger Yu	10:10
48	Drew Senay	10:26
49	Dirk Haupt	10:30
50	Jesse Chao	10:50
51	Yan	12:10
52	Janice	14:20
53	Liam Harrap	15:00


Cypress Ascent
1	Vincent Lavallée	43:58:00
2	John Heinz	45:44:00
3	Winston Guo	48:22:00

Seymour Ascent:
1	Barry Claman	49:45:00
2	Vincent Lavallée: 51:45	51:45:00
3	Sherwood Plant: 52:00	52:00:00
4	Winston Guo	54:00:00
5	Scott Chris	59:02:00


Half Marathon:
1	Max Stalkamp	1:18:53
2	Brendan Naef	1:21:23
3	Liam Harrap	1:23:23
4	Vincent Lavallée	1:23:57
5	Winston Guo	1:28:32
6	Ben Kresnyak	1:28:57
7	Kellen Kjera	1:29:30
8	Eric Suess	1:31:23
9	Joerg Winter	1:31:53
10	Tobi Volkmann	1:34:42
11	Nathaniel Janzen	1:38:06
12	Kory Seder	1:38:08
13	Victoria Gilbert	1:38:25
14	Jesse Chao	1:39:00
15	Melanie van Soeren	1:39:14
16	Clara Gomez	1:41:29
17	Kendra Swain	1:42:08
18	Scott Chris	1:42:59
19	Stephanie Flynn	1:45:45
20	Kim Seder	1:55:46
21	Kelsey Foote	1:56:08
22	Ceilidh Curtis	1:58:10
23	Sarah Simon	2:01:01


Marathon
1	Brendan Naef	2:53:02	Fall 2011
2	Carl Reilly	2:58:05	Spring 2011
3	Vincent Lavallee	2:58:14	Fall 2010
4	Max Stalkamp	2:59:42	Spring 2011
5	Kevin Donak	3:01:01
6	Liam Harrap	3:02:09	Spring 2011
7	Winston Guo	3:07:32	Spring 2011
8	Melanie van Soeren	3:30:44	Fall 2010
9	Andrew Wight	3:36:31	Fall 2010
10	Kim Seder	3:47:00
11	Kory Seder	3:47:00

10km Run
1	Derek Westra-Luney	34:27:00
2	Barry Claman	35:48:00
3	Matt Reeve	37:18:00
4	Vincent Lavallée	37:27:00
22	Liam Harrap	37:41:00
5	Eric Suess	38:10:00
6	Winston Guo	39:03:00
7	Ben Kresnyak	39:08:00
8	Andrew Wight	39:59:00
9	Nathaniel Janzen	41:37:00
10	Scott Chris	41:54:00
11	Jared Pener	42:37:00
12	Claire Haddock	42:45:00
13	Melanie van Soeren	44:21:00
21	Stephanie Flynn	45:38:00
14	Derrick Lee	45:51:00
15	Karin Olafson	46:05:00
16	Victoria Gilbert	46:28:00
17	Celeste Pakstas	51:26:00
18	Jordan Sugie	53:58:00
19	Emily Kwok	57:15:00
20	Sarah Koch	59:33:00


*Note Cypress Now Officially finishes at the sign for 50kph Conveniently that worker is showing it to us.

* There are a few people who I know have gone faster than these times, I just don't know them. Let me know.

2011-08-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

Members of the club have had a very successful summer. The entire Subaru series as well as many smaller races have see many competitors from the club perform exceptionally well. Please see the previous post from Shawnigan for some performances from the Sprint, Olympic and Half Iron Distances. However, some competitors have decided to sign up for an even longer event, most because they were too slow to see any success at shorter distances. Instead of actually training to improve their speed, they have selected the cowardly alternative of securing spots in an event that is difficult to register for (keeps out a lot of the competition!) is relatively far away from Vancouver (less likely you will know any of the spectators, avoiding embarrassment) and long enough that no real speed is required to place well.

Vince wrote a magnificent post in March of 2010, just hours before the Storm the Wall Ironman, profiling the competitors. If Storm the Wall is worthy of competitor profiles, surely the real Ironman is. And a glimpse of the competition three days before the event is surely more than adequate, when the original Storm the Wall post was less than a day in advance of the competition. Yes, it is too late try to imitate your competitors’ workouts. But it is not too late to copy exactly what they plan to eat and drink! Preferably, entirely new nutritional products that you have never tried before.

In brackets after each competitor’s profile some odds are given. These are not the odds of winning or beating any particular competitor. Rather they are the odds that this competitor will cross the finish line smiling. With potential elbows to the face in Lake Okanagan, flat tires, broken chains and significant opportunities for chafing, this can prove to be quite a challenge.

In no particular order:

Dylan Stephanian: Has been biking a lot. As in the entire length of Vancouver Island in one stretch. Not slow in the water either. And after having volunteered as a lifeguard in Penticton last year, Dylan knows exactly what to expect for the swim. It will certainly be difficult to catch him later in the race. He has followed a strict diet all summer, even making his own bread despite convenient, sliced loaves being available at all grocery stores at reasonable prices.

Dylan does not want to leave anything to chance, and will certainly not trust Power Bar with his nutritional requirements out on the course. He is likely bringing bread with him for the bike portion of the race. He has already proven that an entire loaf of bread will fit in bib shorts, having tested this on a return ride from the pie shop in West Vancouver. (Odds 2:1)

Carl Reilly: Didn’t actually enter this race. There was a draw for a spot in Ironman Canada at the opening of West Point Multisport. He had to convince a man who won the entry that he was very fat, had no time to train and would surely die if he went to Penticton. The man then declined the free entry and Carl’s name was drawn next, after he had emptied everyone else’s name out of the hat.

He has since bought a new bike and put in more hours on it than he did on skis at Whistler last winter. Which is a lot. Hopefully he will get a chance to use the bike; the two hour swim cut-off might prove to be a challenge for Carl. Michael Phelps took years to learn how to put long limbs to good use in the water, Carl has yet to learn such coordination. (Odds 4:1)

Brendan Naef: Spent ten days in the Swiss Alps to increase his red blood cell count. This was only slightly more expensive than buying an altitude tent. The chocolate there is better, he reasoned.

A philanthropist by nature, Brendan made a substantial donation to a Penticton kitten orphanage, and they invited him to come and run the race.

Brendan took two month to read Chris McCormack’s latest book. Not a slow reader, Brendan must have read it cover to cover half a dozen times during that period. This should ensure that he has no lack of motivation; Chris McCormack has no tolerance for flies in his soup.

He also intentionally bought some Zoot shoes that are 3 sizes too small, to save weight. The resulting blisters have since turned to calluses, and if his knees will cooperate, he has a good chance of running the fastest marathon time of the group. His nearest competitor, Carl, was a full three minutes behind at the BMO marathon. And Carl, never having experienced conditions above 20 degrees, doesn’t do too well in the heat. (Odds 1:1)

Reza Honarpisheh: Has also been training a lot. Signing up for Ironman a full year ago helped ensure he would stay motivated. Reza finished this year’s sun run in just over 41 minutes, a huge PB. And he’s had all summer to get faster. He competed in the Sprint at UBC in March, the Olympic at Shawnigan in May. Slowing building mileage, the proper way, definitely prepared for this weekend. (Odds 3:1)

Kim Seder: The only female representing the club. She didn’t notice the word “man” hidden in the event’s title. Not wishing to settle for the Ironwoman event held a week later (90m swim, 2k bike, 1k run, 600 yard hopscotch course), Kim signed up for the real thing.

All Jokes aside, unlike all the above mentioned competitors; Kim has actually done an Ironman before. Which is an enormous advantage. She has a far better idea what to expect, how to pace, how much to drink. And she has followed a consistent training plan. She’s done stair workouts. She’s ridden the entire Sunshine coast. Having done the VOWSA loop so many times, she has been able to swim it without sighting since July. (No Odds, a guaranteed smile)

Mike Duncan: Is very familiar with the Ironman course after several summers of extensive winery tours in the region. Completed a Half Iron last summer and decided to sign up for the full thing. With some lingering injuries, he is fully prepared if the marathon becomes “the longest walk of his life”. A strong swimmer, he should still be well ahead in the pack even if it is tough to get going after transition 2. (Odds 5:1)

Winston Guo: Will be fine as long as he spends less than 10 minutes getting a slurpie in Keremeos. A bad case of road rash in July cost Winston some precious training in the pool. And he also has a full time job. Which should consume his life, starting in September. So he should put in enough effort on Sunday to warrant taking 5 or 6 weeks off training to be in the office full time.

While volunteering last year, Winston noticed all of the spots on the course where the crowds are thickest; he hopes to fully appreciate their support as a competitor this year. These stretches of the course will be the only places where Winston may take his eyes off of the display on his Garmin. (Odds 1:1)

Tristan Jenkin: Might not be an official paying member of the UBC club. But he did almost beat Vince in the aquathon, so that means he is more than included. And I’m not entirely sure Vince has paid his club fees either.

Tristan’s swim will not leave him far behind the pros. However, his strict Paleolithic diet will not allow him any forms of sugar, certainly no Power Bar products, so don’t be surprised if he runs out of energy before getting to Osoyoos.
He will gladly explain the benefits of CrossFit and foam rolling. Especially if CrossFit gets him to Kona. Lance Armstrong hopes to see him there. (Odds 3:1)

Kory Seder: The only other competitor to have completed the distance before. So his goals for times are actually realistic. Has completed at least one 300k ride, 8k swim and run 35 miles over the course of a day. Granted, there was some rest between those feats, so stringing all three events together will be the challenge.

Kory’s performance might be largely tied to the day’s forecast. Every degree Celsius rise could add ten seconds per mile to his marathon time. Hopefully it is not too much warmer than Ironman Wisconsin. Kory has been closely observing the moon phases, knowing very well that the new moon marks race day. Keeping track for the sake of other racers of course, Kory will almost certainly finish well before sunset. (Odds 2:1)

Kellen Kjera: Will finally be able to prove or disprove the benefits of disgustingly green smoothies. Has gained much from posting every workout, goal, success, new hat and most meals on Facebook. Having an audience to be held accountable to is rather motivating.

With the most well planned and consistent training Schedule and PB’s at nearly every distance this year, Kellen is set for a great race. (Odds 7:1)

The Author: Will keep Kellen in sight for the entire swim, stay exactly 7m behind on the bike, and pull ahead with 100m to go in the Marathon. (Odds 1:1)

Very Honorable Mention:

Johnson Jia: Isn’t going to Penticton. Prefers to get in a couple more weeks training and head to Washington for 5k in the water, 200k on the bike and 50k on foot. A major factor in choosing the “Super Tri” west of Spokane over Penticton was that he would be able to stop in Blaine on the way out and the way back. That way he can pick up items recently purchased over the internet.

Shawnigan Race Results

2011-05-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a weekend! According to Kellen, he was sure that he saw me at the race this weekend. Now, I've never been one to poop on a party, so I'll oblige his physical stress induced delirium (cause by his huge effort on the tri course, of course!) and I'll recap what I experienced this weekend on the journey to, during, and from the race at Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island.

The hype leading up to this race was unreal. There were the typical discussions of how to place 18.5 bikes on 3/4 of the windshield of Dylan's Porche, where on earth Max should get his nails done, the multiple car shuffles, and all of the race participants asking Jesse for a ride at the last minute. Eventually everyone, except Max due to his bikini waxing appointment, boarded the ferry to head over to Vancouver Island.

Once safely across the raging seas of the Straight of Georgia, the team arrived at their luxurious lodgings, graciously arranged by the ever exuberant Kellen Kjera. The cabins, however, were not up to some people's standards. Carl was sighted wearing a toque all weekend because he had slight chill due to his inability to cope with the harsh Canadian winters. Yes, Carl, 5C is pretty darn cold you poor lad.

Don't worry Carl, Brendan has been quoted as saying that the cabins were "F***ING FREEZING", so you're not the only chilly lad in this group.

Since certain people (coughcarlcough) were complaining so much about the cold, Stephanie Flynn decided to that it was a good idea to be born on May 28, just so that the other people would have something to look forward to on their evening at Camp "Once You Pop The Fun Don't Stop". She even baked herself a birthday cake and convinced everyone in the cafeteria to sing her happy birthday just to keep their minds off the cold. Here's a picture of her pretending to be surprised at her birthday celebration, even though she planned the whole thing herself.

Alright, enough of this pre-race business. While birthdays and whiney boys are fun and all, as triathletes the main thing that we get a thrill out of is poking fun at Winston. So, down to the important stuff. As I saw on my 13.62 laps of the bike course, there was a dead cat lying in the middle of the road. Early on in the race, whilst I was waiting in the bushes so I could steal Kendra's garmin and slowly let the air out of her tires, I witnessed Winston come barreling down the road on his bike and maliciously slaughter said cat. In a later interview Winston said that the cat actually caused him to enjoy riding his Cervello for a brief second, so he had to put it out of its misery so that he could go back to his. An additional reason for Winston's misery lies in the misinformation he received from Derrick about the bike course. Even though Winston had raced this course before, Derrick managed to convince everyone, even seasoned vets, that the course was pan plat. I'm talking smooth as a thin layer of molten aluminum after it has been poured from a crucible into a casting furnace. Ya, that's right, I make aluminum. Anyway, Winston quickly found out that Derrick's memory is not what it used to be and there were in fact several hills on the course. Winston said "I knew I should have left my third garmin in transition to save some weight on the bike course, but then how would I have figured out the standard deviation between the logging frequency of different models of garmin gps watches?!?"

While Winston may not have been excited for the race, Naiely sure was!

But I think she was happier at the end of her Half.

One story that I need to mention is the events of our very own VP Athletics, Jen Moroz. Jen, although not competing in this weekend's event, decided that she needed to make a little heptathlon of her own. It went like this: Wake up at 4:30am, run 10km to volunteer on the race course, volunteer like a champion on the race course, get sun burnt, get forgotten on the course by the race organizers, run 10k back, don't complain about this at all. What a champion.

Ok, I guess you'd actually like to hear about the race, eh? Well, tough. You can't. There is no documentation about the race. Except, of course, for the 31 pieces of data provided by the race timers. Well, in lieu of any real information about the race, here are a few pictures of race type things.

As can be seen from this last picture, our club decided it wanted to take up as much room as they possibly could on the grass after the event. Even though a certain someone went to extraordinary pains to arrange a team tent for them, and the race organizers even supplied a tent, they decided to completely ignore these efforts, abandon their tent and ruin the prime grass seating area for everyone else. How selfish of them!

Despite their selfishness, a few of our club members happened to do quite well in their races. And here's proof.

Well, actually, that last one isn't really proof of anything, except for the fact that Joerg tried to set his garmin to wake him up in time for the race, but he didn't remember that garmins don't have an alarm on them, so instead he slept in the sun for most of the day (which is probably why I couldn't find his race result...).

Now, if there is one clear conclusion from this weekend, it's that Winston really really did NOT want to go on the ferry ride home, and he especially did NOT want to gorge himself on the on board buffet. Nope, Winston would rather sit in the sun and put on his fancy socks.

And so would this beast for that matter.

It's really too bad that Winston didn't want to eat any of the buffet, because it seems like some people (coughnaielycough) had a pretty good meal, especially when it came to dessert.

Here are the results for our club members that I found. Please forgive me if your name isn't on here, send me an email at ubctriathlon@gmail.com and I'll add it in.

Half Ironman

Overall Age Cat Overall Swim Bike Run

Rank Rank Name Time Time Time Time

2 2 Elliot Holthan 4:05:12 27:20 2:14:20 1:22:25

7 1 Brendan Naef 4:32:27 31:13 2:27:30 1:32:18

12 3 Carl Reilly 4:45:15 37:28 2:37:04 1:28:57

21 1 Dylan S. 4:59:01 37:39 2:33:30 1:44:58

27 4 Winston Guo 5:07:27 38:36 2:41:15 1:41:53

40 1 Victoria Gilbert 5:28:50 35:59 2:57:06 1:51:03

50 2 Naiely Cabrera 5:38:28 34:20 3:07:53 1:49:54

Olympic

Overall Age Cat Overall Swim Bike Run

Rank Rank Name Time Time Time Time

10 5 Kellen Kjera 2:33:11 29:37 1:15:04 42:34

26 5 Derrick Lee 2:42:21 29:59 1:15:30 53:00

30 7 Johnson Jia 2:44:04 28:48 1:15:54 54:39

41 4 Kendra Swain 2:48:28 24:17 1:28:39 50:33

53 7 Stephanie Flynn 2:54:18 24:55 1:28:04 53:59

55 10 Tristan Jenkin 2:55:35 22:33 1:44:58 43:56

59 12 Reza H. 2:57:17 37:29 1:20:39 47:48

66 13 Jesse Chao 3:00:08 32:05 1:28:11 52:58

114 19 David Chiu 36:29

Sprint

Overall Age Cat Overall Swim Bike Run

Rank Rank Name Time Time Time Time

6 2 Kaley Strachan 1:17:36 8:58 42:35 22:17

21 3 Seanna Martin 1:20:02 8:55 43:55 23:32

Ironman Promotion Question

2011-04-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, we are trying to figure out what type of promotion deal to do for ironman Canada this year. And as Triathletes you are obviously our target audience. All of you have either done or shown interest in triathlons before. So I just need you to answer 1 simple question.

Over the past 4 years the promotion at Ironman Canada has been if you buy 40 units of Powerbar product, you will receive a free Zip up Jacket.

Zip Up Jacket shown below (It is not visible in my photo but there are pockets as well).

One idea for the coming year would be to have IGIO duffel bags instead. The bag we are thinking about is shown below. Colour is still undecided but it will definitely incorporate black, red and yellow (Powerbar Colors)

My Question for you my fantastic friends is;

Which item would you prefer to get in the promotion given the choice?

betsson casino | poll online | CAPTAIN COOKS | MT4 | Winpalace

IVAN HAS NEVER BEEN SO PROUD.

2011-03-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

With 15 events of the 2010/2011 point series already passed, Vince knew he has only chance left to win an event. As the founder of the point series, he had alot to live up to. Expectations were at an all time high. And with the pressure, he performed well. He found that two beers the night before a race gives him the extra little kick needed to finish first. We can only hope this doesn’t get out of hand, I’m sure there is a saturation point, once you hit 5 or 6 beers the night before a race I’m sure things go downhill. Nevertheless, a good omen for the approaching beer mile. His win today does however ruin the consistent standard deviation that he had going. He overachieved in Saturday’s brick as well, bringing him much too close to the winner’s time to be consistent. More importantly, he finally surpassed one of the standards set by Matt Reeve in the fall series, Vince’s 17:10 takes 7 seconds off of Matt’s time. A sub 17:00 is definitely possible for Vince, since he took the long way from the bottom of the stairs to the far side of the knoll on two of his laps, a 7-8 second handicap for sure.

Not satisfied with just a single victory for the day, Vince was headed off to Whistler to beat a bunch of twelve year olds in an “intro to biathlon” race. In the un-timed event Vince discovered that 12km of skiing can be more difficult than a 20 minute swim and run. He also discovered that twelve year olds who have put in more than two days on skis this winter can blow by you on the uphills.

Finishing not too far behind him were Barry (17:28) and Brendan (17:30) who did not stop at the finish line, but rather held his pace and sprinted the 200m across University Boulevard to his favourite coffee shop. Barry was third out of the water but managed to catch Brendan on the run, likely because Brendan was saving energy to elbow his way to the front of the line to get an Americano. Brendan knows the usual Sunday morning clientele can be aggressive senior citizens headed off to church and frat boys coming home from the previous Saturday night, so he needed to conserve his last strength if he wanted any chance of getting caffeine without a lengthy wait.

Stephanie Flynn had the fastest swim of the day and allowed her to win the women’s event by nearly a minute. Vince blames his uneven pacing in the swim on trying to keep up with her. The 1000 points she earned here puts her in third overall. Jen Bhatla took advantage of a quick transition and some speedy laps of the SUB to pass two competitors who were ahead of her out of the water. Her 19:13 puts her in second, inches ahead of Victoria who finished in 19:14.

All but two Aquathon competitors also did the 500m swim this semester, so some comparisons can be made. Seven athletes covered the 500m in the pool faster than they did in February and still had enough energy in reserve to run three laps of the SUB. The improvements ranged from 2 seconds (Drew) to 36 seconds (Johnson) and even a whole 45 (Max). Swim times can be found below, with improvements in brackets. There was a magic window of time between 8:37 and 9:15 where everyone finishing had bettered their previous 500m times. I can guarantee you Steph Urness would have taken more than 22 seconds off of her 500m time had I not been holding her up and refusing to let her pass for the first 200m. I knew I was in trouble when I was pushing off the wall with 100m to go and I saw Steph Flynn on the pool deck with her shoes on already. My shoes were on already too, but that certainly did not help with the swimming.

Steph F 7:13:00
Vince 7:40:00
Rachel 7:26:00
Karin 7:42:00
Eddy 7:45:00
Jen B 7:51:00
Brendan 8:06:00 (4 seconds)
Dylan 8:10:00
Barry 8:12:00
Kywon 8:28:00
Victoria 8:37:00 (3 seconds)
Winston 8:37:00 (8 seconds)
Johnson 9:03:00 (36 seconds)
Steph U 9:07:00 (22 seconds)
Max 9:15:00 (45 seconds)
Kaley 9:24:00
Jon 9:30:00
Ben 9:43:00
Drew 9:52:00 (2 seconds)
Jesse 10:00:00

Winston, the club patriarch, did everything in his power not to beaten by Victoria in the water. He succeeded, just barely.
We don’t want to make the statistics for the run feel left out:

Vince 9:30
Steph Flynn 11:15
Barry 9:16
Brendan 8 9:24
Jen B 11:22
Victoria 10:37
Rachel 11:58
Karin 11:47
Winston 9:33
Dylan 10:02
Jon 8:44
Max 9:10
Kaley 10:52
Eddy 11:15
Steph U 11:26
Kywon 12:57
Ben 10:15
Johnson 11:46
Drew 11:04
Jesse 11:49

No major upsets in the overall points were seen after the race, the top 4 or 5 men’s and women’s positions remained unchanged. Barry will be the first to have his name on the Trophy other than Matt Reeve. Vince’s name is also on the trophy, but for an entirely different reason. Vince would have had to put several minutes on Barry in the Aquathon to claim the overall lead. Three attempts to unplug Barry’s alarm clock and two tries at pushing him in front of a bus proved unsuccessful. Kaley retains the overall title that she has held since the 5k (briefly allowing Ms. Flynn to hold the position after the 500m swim). Victoria takes second place while Stephanie Flynn easily held on to third, gaining 110 points on her nearest competitor in the last event of the series.

For those who may be interested, if the entire Spring Fling was a single event, you can see below what your time would have been. Assuming fatigue plays no role and you were able to hold your pace over all distances. The course would end up being approximately a 12k run (with 300 feet of elevation gain), 21k on the bike and a kilometer in the pool. If we take the Ironman distance to be the reference standard, the 2.4 mile (3.8k) swim accounts for 1.70% of the total distance for the 226k course.

Since the 1 kilometer worth of swimming in the Point Series ends up accounting for 2.94% of the total distance covered, some adjustments need to be made. To keep the swim distance in line with the 1.7% rule, we really need to cut the swimming down to 578m, 289m for the time trial and 289m to begin the Aquathon. A spot on the ballots for the Wednesday Executives election will be added to confirm support for the decision to change the swim distances. To avoid a biased vote, anyone who has ever completed a 500m swim in under 8 minutes will not be given a ballot. Also, Kory; your suggestion of making the 500m swim event into a 1500m now seems quite ridiculous. Please do not bother to point out that the 12k of running is proportionally too long, I assure you things are better this way. The unfair, heavily swimming biased results for everyone who completed all 8 events are:

Barry 91:47
Vince 93:18
Brendan 94:34
Jon 96:04
Stallkamp 98:17
Ben 106:15
Johnson 110:57

Victoria 107:50
Kaley 108:05
Flynn 109:04
Urness 111:05

Looking at these results, an hour and a half for men and 1:45 for women seem to be good targets for the next Fall Series. The three time returning champion will surely have a shot at the 1:30 barrier. Interestingly, Matt’s 2010 fall series results calculated using the new 1000 point system would earn him 8109.6 points, very close to Barry’s total of 8114.2. The next Fall Series might be a very close competition.

Max and I were walking by Ivan on the pool deck after collecting our shoes and heading inside to the hot tub. “You guys are really fast” he said. “At running” , he added. We are both looking forward to the next point series where hopefully the swimmers will no longer have an unfair advantage. Just to be on the safe side, Max and I have signed up for a two week summer training camp with this man:

Here are the running and the swimming times added together including any mishaps with socks, tight laces, Garmins, tripping on the stairs, fence jumping, Speedo adjustments, smiling at cameras, avoiding pigeons, general whining and all calibrated for the chilly temperature and sun in your eyes:

Vince 17:10
Barry 17:28
Brendan 17:30
Winston 18:10
Dylan 18:12
Jon 18:14
Max 18:25
Steph F 18:28
Eddy 19:00
Jen B 19:13
Victoria 19:14
Rachel 19:24
Karin 19:29
Ben 19:58
Kaley 20:16
Steph U 20:33
Johnson 20:49
Drew 20:56
Kywon 21:25
Jesse 21:49
Sherry 22:56

Vote Matt 4 Prez

2011-03-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

When I came to UBC in 2007 I was most certainly not a triathlete. I was in moderately good shape, having tree planted and lead canoe trips all summer, but I was not in triathlon shape. I considered myself a decent swimmer, having raced with my high school team, focusing on the 100 m breaststroke and placing fifth in Ontario. I was a moderate cyclist at best, having ridden mountain bikes and BMXs in Toronto for years but having never touched a road bike. And I was an OK runner, I started my running career in September 2005 in grade 12 on the cross-country team, then moved up to a 10 k race in December, and a half marathon in February 2006. So, I made the decision, as we all have, to put these three activities together and I joined the UBC Triathlon Club in my first couple weeks at UBC.

In my time with the club I’ve seen it grow quite a bit. In the 07/08 season, there were just a handful of active members, and run practice was routinely just me and the club President. The club was essentially run solely by the President at that time, but he still managed to organize swimming, running, and cycling workouts. Since the club was being run by one individual, I wanted to do what I could to help it succeed. This meant taking on the important roll of Treasurer in my second year with the club. With no experience and a handful of determination I was able to keep a balanced budget while adding spinning classes, adapting to rising pool fees, and adding a welcome BBQ and the year end banquet to the social calendar. While I was Treasurer, I also redesigned the club logo and helped facilitate the ordering of club hoodies and T-shirts. We’ve since added the race series, an uproarious social calendar, and multiple club sponsors and sports wear. I have been on the executive committee as much as possible in the past two years, with some gaps when I have been away on co-op (like I am right now). But even during my co-op school terms I have strived to be as involved as possible in my position of VP Matt, working with Vince to design our club cycling kits, attending executive meetings via Skype and email, writing blog posts, creating the “UBC Triathlon Club fans of Matt Reeve” Facebook group, and being a general consultant to the club.

In March 2008, I raced my first triathlon, the Olympic at the UBC Tri/Du. I came 8th and I was hooked. I have since raced in eight other triathlon races, from sprints to a half ironman, and a handful of running races, with my best ever race at the 2010 Fall Classic placing third overall in the 10 km with a time of 37 minutes. Needless to say, I’ve come a long way, and I owe it all to my involvement with the UBC Triathlon Club. Training with like-minded individuals and coaches has made me the athlete I am today. Oh, and I should probably remind you that I am the three-time champion of the Vincent Lavallee Cup, three-time Storm the Wall finalist, and five time sufferer in the beer mile.

My past four years with the tri-club have made me some great friends, taught me a lot about the sport, and taught me how to run this club. As the current second longest standing member of the club (the exception being Winston) I know my way around the AMS policies, the nightmare of booking the pool, organizing practices and events, and helping club members figure out what is going on with the club. I am certainly not the inexperienced member I was four years ago. Most importantly though, I love the UBC Triathlon Club and want my fifth year to be about giving back to the entity that fueled my passion for this sport.

A few things I’d like to add to the club for next year are as follows.
• Allocate some funds in the budget to obtain more club resources, such as swimming stroke tools, flippers, emergency cycling resources (multi-tools, spare inner tubes, cold weather clothing, etc), and triathlon resource materials.
• Organize and facilitate a weekly brick workout, since running off the bike is an invaluable skill for a triathlete.
• Organize a January-March training plan specifically designed to get athletes ready for the first race of the season, the UBC Triathlon/Duathon.
• Hold basic bike-maintenance clinics.
• Make it the most super radical totally awesome and amazing year in club history!

If you’re still not convinced I’m an excellent candidate for President of the UBC Triathlon Club, please check out the video I’ve posted herehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL8J4T7X8xI or here http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150177692267932 in 720p HD.

Sincerely,

Matt Reeve

The Brick

2011-03-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Light rain greeted the competitors of this year’s brick event, the second last of the Spring Fling. Many considered staying in bed after analyzing the weather from their bedroom windows.. A few did stay in bed. Those who didn’t found themselves huddled inside the club office until 9:20 because someone is always late and staying outside more than 5 minutes was enough to make anyone shiver. Anyone who wasn’t already cold certainly was after a practice lap of the course, serving to both clarify any confusion regarding the route and thoroughly chill all participants.

While Kim didn’t quite better her course record set this past fall, her 22:22 was the fastest time by far for the ladies, finishing more than a minute ahead of any other competitors. After hours sifting through stored Garmin files on her computer, she managed to dig out last semester’s bike and run splits for the brick. She blames any slackening of her pace on twice weekly Wreck beach stair workouts. Victoria was next in 23:26 while Kaley was nipping at her heels in 23:30. Or at least she would have been had the two not started 30 seconds apart. But in the interest of safe cornering on Kullahun Drive and to eliminate unfair drafting, the less exciting time trial format had to be adopted. You don’t truly know who you’ve beaten until 20 minutes after the race but at least you made it to the finish. With two traffic lights and a U-turn on the course, pulling in front of cars and gaining three seconds on your nearest compettior sometimes seems like a good idea.

On Friday, Kory decided to try the 16th Avenue option instead of his usual Stadium Road hill ascent and posted the fastest time for the brick, 20:08. Let’s give him a break on this unmarked course, when you are way ahead with no one to follow, sometimes it is difficult to remember to turn. 20:08 is exactly Matt’s time from the Fall Classic; he should have made his way down from Kitimat for the weekend and defended his title. With so many missed events, he would have to do a lot more than tie Kory to make up the ground he has lost so far. Barry was not far behind with a 20:14. During a post race interview Barry mentioned he wanted a fast time “to spite the haters”. While immediately elated with his time after finishing the brick, Barry could not help thinking of his cat’s recent pneumonia diagnosis, hence any associated facial expressions in the subsequent hour.

Vince finished third in 20:21. Not even Sherwood’s shouts of encouragement could allow Vince to run painlessly up Stadium Road, his legs certainly still felt the incline. It is not easy to take words of encouragement from a man pedaling effortlessly next to you. Sherwood, if you would ever give up the mechanical advantage of the wheel for even a single 5k run, you be an infinitely more understanding coach. You are no better than the fat man with an ice cream cone that I passed while running along Jericho beach the other day. If he were to offer me some mid-run encouragement, it would fall on deaf ears. That being said, I did appreciate your help in pacing that allowed me to catch Eddy at the Kullahun Drive turnaround. I did not however appreciate you blowing by me at the start after I slipped off a pedal and jammed my crotch into my seat. I already know I need to work on accelerations.

Kellen earned the title of fastest transition (9 seconds) with the aid of baskets and flat pedals added the night before the race. He was however only 4 seconds faster overall compared to last semester. Considering he has tripled his training volume, I think the baskets may have lost him more time on the bike than he ever could have made up in transition. The coveted longest transition award goes to Ben, with a whopping 53 seconds. Ben not only had time to change into a dry pair of socks and put on three layers of leg warmers, he also made a phone call to his mother and finished up a lab assignment that he laid out in the transition area. All the while munching on a turkey sandwich. We really don’t know how you do it Ben, but you have my vote for VP Time Management. My own 19 second transition would have been much speedier had Max not hid my shoes in the bushes in hope of gaining a few precious seconds on me.

Some other observations:

Ceilidh now holds the course record for the brick in the denim race pants division. To further impede his movement he wore a weighted backpack for most of the race. I am very glad some people aren’t tapering for Spring Fling events. I will however have you know that finishing in over 24 minutes really messes up the point conversion formula that Vince uses to calculate final scores. Denim does not completely excuse a slow time, I will have you know. I have seen video of The Running of The Bulls in Pamplona, jeans are standard attire for some participants and most are moving rather quickly.

Sherry has been getting sick of expired power bar products and made a desperate attempt to achieve a new nutrition sponsor by changing her last name. She was soon dismayed to discover that GU only sponsors professional triathletes and were not willing to pay the $700 legal fees involved in the name changing process. Johnson shares her growing hatred of expired Power Bar product, unable to hide his disgust in the photo below.

He has already had six cases of Clif bars shipped to Blaine, Washington and will be picking them up on Monday. In addition, Johnson has sent several emails in bold red font to the founders of Groupon urging them to include energy bar manufacturers in their daily deals. Meanwhile, he purchased 10 ironing boards for the price of 9 (what a deal!), signed for tap dancing lessons, a Flamenco class and now has a six month membership at each of three different pottery studios. Johnson has said that if anyone needs all of their clothing ironed in a hurry, then they are more than welcome to stop by his place.

Eddy is much better at timing flats than Tyler. Eddy’s flat came 20 minutes before the start of the race, ample time for Kellen to give him a hand and get everything together in time for the race. Kellen is always quick to jump in and help with bike repairs, but even he would have to leave Tyler to deal with his own mid-race flat. His time will be added as soon as I get his results.

Only a single event, The Aquathon, remains in the point series. This will be the second event (out of eight) that involves swimming. As you know, most triathlons feature swimming as the shortest of the three legs (by distance, for obvious reasons) and by time. Most swims take about 1/5th of the overall time of a triathlon. There have been some complaints that 2 swimming events is a bit excessive if we want to really train proportionally for races. While I am sure Ms. Flynn will launch an organised protest, perhaps swimming should be cut back on in the next point series. The series ends Sunday. Set your alarms, get your shoes and goggles ready and find out exactly how many points ahead of you the next person in the standings is. Then swim in their lane and make sure you are out of the water first so you can throw their shoes onto the diving tower and guarantee you will move up one spot in the Spring Fling.

Kory 20:08
Kim 22:22
Barry 20:14
Vincen 20:21
Jon 20:26
Brendan 20:45
Dylan 20:57
Victoria 23:26
Kaley 23:30
Max 21:45
Steph Urness 24:42
Kellen 22:22
Steph Flynn 25:05
Ben 23:03
Claudia 26:05
Johnson 23:39
Rodrigo 24:10
Eddy 24:14
Jen Bhatla 27:17
Jesse 24:41:00
Sherry 27:26:00
Ceilidh 25:10:00
Aaron Green 28:24:00

Four Laps?

2011-03-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

The New York Times once ran a column called “The Mile Is a Mockery”. The author, Red Smith was regarded as one of the greatest sportswriters who ever lived. He wrote: “If god had intended man to run, he would have given him four legs, or at least made him late for a bus”. He goes on to add “Speed afoot may have been useful to some of the young ladies pursued by Jack the Ripper, but unnecessary running is a crime against nature. This goes for the joggers who clutter our country roads and infest our parks”. True, voluntarily subjecting your legs and lungs to anything other than a stroll to and from the kitchen is questionable. While there is certainly some logic there, it is plain to see that running has always had its allure.

The first Olympic Games featured just a single event: a sprint from one end of the stadium in Olympia, Greece, to the other. The stadia is no longer a standard running distance, but the mile has taken its place. Accurate times for the mile run have been recorded since the 1850's, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built in England. The 1500m is great for Olympic years, but the appeal of a standard mile race is unmatched. For the same reason no one except Max and Carl can give you their weight in kilograms more readily than in pounds. Comparing kilometer times is just not the same. Four laps makes for a great race and unlike the 1500, it finishes just about where it starts, great for lethargic spectators.

While passing the Winter Sports Center on the way to the track there was some discussion over how many laps of Thunderbird hockey rink would equal a mile. A debate arose over whether the near frictionless ice would help or hinder performance. In the end, all agreed that the track would be the faster surface for today and the hockey rink would be a great venue to hold Saturday’s Brick.

Ben had many questions before the start of the race “Is Budweiser in cans OK?, Is the first beer to be drunk before or after the first lap?...” I had to inform him that only the date for the mile had been changed to March 16th, the beer mile is still in April. Ben had wholeheartedly been training and preparing for the wrong event. All of his home brew was used to pre-drink for training runs. Hopefully his efforts will pay off in a few weeks time. I will buy him an oversized, novelty wall calendar with little reminder notes to avoid such confusion in the future.

The excitement of the mile seems to always draw many competitors, 33 tonight is just shy of the 36 who turned out last semester. 23 competed in both the spring and fall, and 17 ran faster tonight. The top 9 men all improved on their times since October. Winston ruined the trend by running 3 seconds slower today. He blamed his slower pace on the three pole vaulters who stepped into his lane, and a half dozen shot putters out for a warm-up up jog who boxed him in on the last corner. Also, he claims he had to swerve into the long jump pit to avoid a stray discus and lost precious seconds. No other competitors saw any signs of these obstacles, leading some to believe Winston may be fabricating excuses.

But there is some reason to celebrate for Liam, Kellen and Brendan who all finished ahead of Winston today. Last semester all three finished just behind the benchmark. No one could tell if Liam’s vigorous fist pump at the finish line was to express his excitement over beating Winston, or setting a new PB.

Winston was so frazzled from his run-in with the stray discus and the pole vaulters that he tried to use his UBC tri club membership card to board the bus home. Subsequent attempts to use the card to buy a Slurpee at 7 Eleven and as ID to get into Burnaby’s hottest strip club also failed.

The three fastest times of the day for the girls were 5:31 (Kaley), 5:55 (Victoria) and 5:56 (Naiely). Kaley had already put in a 5:36 as a trial run in February, so she knew exactly what pace to be looking for today. Seanna was next in 6:02, the six minute mile barrier surely within reach if we were to run the race again.
Max and I finished just a second apart, in 4:47 and 4:48. Barry was close behind in 4:54, all three times below the previous club record.

A generally good looking guy could not quite compete with the ghost of Matt Reeve. As Matt again receives a DNS today, Vince can only compare himself to Matt’s 5:03 from October. He will have to be content with his new PB of 5:05.

Drew condensed all of his training into several treadmill sessions of 5 minute mile pace over the last 2 weeks. He chose the basement of the Aquatic Center to avoid having any competitors able to witness his training and because Thursdays at 2:30 there is a cute girl on the Elliptical. With the treadmill unable to simulate air resistance, he ended up with a 5:01 today. If he were to ever get three solid weeks of training under his belt, there is no telling what he could do.

A finish photo is currently being consulted to determine the winner between Brendan and Kellen, both running 5:12's. Brendan’s width around the upper chest may give him the edge. Dissapointed with his VO2 max, a paltry 57 mg/kg/min, Brendan resorted to desperate measures. He has recovered remarkably quickly from a double lung transplant and is now the proud owner of a pair of lungs that can get 74 ml of oxygen to his muscles every minute. He needed the transplant anyway, years of smoking two packs a day and working in a law office adjacent to a Swiss coal mine left Brendan gasping for air at the best of times. He and Kellen now have the highest V02’s in the club. The 5:12 tie will have to be broken with a game of “rock, paper scissors”, should the results of the photo finish prove inconclusive. Kellen swears he would have won had we run the race clockwise, as he does the majority of his training that way.

The Aquathon and Brick are quickly approaching, 4 events in 8 days. Half of the Spring Fling is to be contested in a single week. The 20 day gap in the Point Series is a forgotten memory of February. Ice baths, foam rollers and long naps are surely the best tools for much needed quick recovery. And whoever writes the blogs deserves a medal and a cookie. No ordinary man could be expected to write 4 entries in such a short time span without seriously compromising his scholastic performance. But Storm the Wall is already going to do that.

John 4:47
Max 4:48
Barry 4:54
Drew 5:01
Vince 5:05
Nathaniel5:07
Carl 5:09
Kellen 5:12
Brendan 5:12
Dylan 5:18
Liam 5:20
Winston 5:22
Ben 5:25
Dirk 5:25
James M 5:26
Tim 5:29
Eddy 5:30
Jesse 5:37
Rodrigo 5:48
David 5:50
Jake 6:05
Derrick 6:07
Matt R 6:09
Johnson 6:14
Keely 6:40
Sherry 6:30
Kim 6:26
Stephanie F 6:26
Karin 6:24
Meaghan 6:15
Seanna 6:02
Naiely 5:56
Victoria5:55
Stepahnie U 5:54
Kaley 5:31

IONA AGAIN. WITH WIND.

2011-03-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Headwinds and light drizzle toward the end of today’s Iona bike time trial made for conditions that were a far cry from those seen for the same event last semester. Only 5 of the 14 riders who competed in the event in both the spring and the fall managed to improve on their times. Kory’s 15:23 was nearly a minute back of his own course record time. With all of the other riders facing the same headwinds during the last 5k, Kory still had the fastest time of the day.

There is a much more interesting comparison to be made, one more indicative of improvement or atrophy over the last couple months. How your time compares to Winston’s; whether it be in the pool, on the bike, or running, has long been a club performance standard.

All told, ten of us finished in front of him and we have every reason to be proud. After setting his PB’s in nearly every event last year, Winston has never been fitter. Both Johnson and I were defeated by Winston in the Iona time trial for the Fall Classic, but managed to finish ahead of him this morning. Kellen has every right to be thrilled because he finally beat me at something, but I will humbly remind him that he has hardly improved. Last semester he finished 1:03 ahead of Winston, this semester, 1:05; hardly any significant difference. As a benchmark and a yardstick, Winston you have no equal. Please keep up the consistency. One day I will swim in your lane.

Kellen and I were practically neck and neck. Our photo finish is included below, with Winston trailing. I'm in the pink. I assure you it would have been more dramatic had we not started 20 seconds apart.

Last semester, the women’s winner, Kim managed to get through the course nine seconds ahead of Winston in 16:48, which remains the female course record. Her 18:30 today put her first among the ladies yet again and puts her four-tenths of a point ahead of Brendan in the overall, combined gender standings. Brendan has never been angrier. To make matters worse, plans for much anticipated post-race pizza were cancelled. He has since been utterly inconsolable.

Derrick has already made appologies for ruining Kim's finish photo.

Some observations from the race:

Eddy does not understand the basic principles of nutrition. Anything eaten minutes before a 10k time trial will not enter your blood stream in time to improve performance.

People with the name Jen are cursed when it comes to bike time trials. Jen Bhatla’s chain broke within the first few seconds of the uphill bike two weeks ago. Jen Moroz had today’s only flat within the first few hundred meters of the course. Suspicions of foul play point to Theresa, who is just behind Jen in the overall standings. A small puncture, a slow leak, a screw in the tire, all would be in Theresa’s best interest. I will advise Jen at the next available opportunity to check her fork for hairline cracks and to avoid dark alleys. To add to suspicion, I will point out that mechanical problems also kept Jen from racing the Iona time trial in October as well. On the plus side, while helping Jen change the sabotaged tube Kellen has set the new club record for the task. Twenty-three seconds. Sorry Matt.

Four eagles, three herons and innumerable crows were spotted along the course during the warm-up. Since no riders could lift their eyes above road level during the race, it is not know whether they remained to watch the time trial. Several horses had turned out to line the course as well, but proved to be rather poor spectators, interested more in hay consumption than cheering on the riders. They could have at least turned their water trough toward the outer fence and set up a Spartan aid station. I really think a sip of stagnant water at the 8k mark could have taken minutes off my time.

Shortly after Kellen passed me with 3k to go, I detected the unmistakable scent of burning rubber. While Kellen went by at a good pace, I seriously doubted he had reached speeds where rubber begins to overheat. In July maybe, but this was still an early season time trial after all. I saw some emergency vehicles on the adjacent runway and traced the cause of the stench to an aircraft’s tires on the tarmac after landing. I subsequently tried and failed to use some of the landing planes to pace myself. A fuselage is clearly better shaped to handle headwinds than the average cyclist. Especially Kaley’s parachute jacket, an outfit forcibly imposed on her by those on the losing side of the “Kaley Vs Boys” row on the spreadsheet. Some sort of handicap was clearly necessary.

After allowing 40 minutes for Kellen to get his camera in position to take a group photo, much of the group had become thoroughly chilled. Half of the group broke off to ride farther into Richmond while the more sensible lot headed back into Vancouver. Matt Reeve received yet another DNS, perhaps hoping the enormous pressure to perform will allow him to do well in the final three events of the Spring Fling. Once again, congratulations to Kory who beat Winston by an impressive two minutes and forty three seconds.

For the next event, a source of post-race calories and protein will need to be determined beforehand. Steveston Pizza doesn’t open until three in the afternoon, and Kellen received no response to his invitation to eat at Uncle Fatih’s pizza on Broadway. I later heard that Kellen was unable to enjoy his pizza because tears of sorrow had made it far too salty to stomach. To avoid subjecting Kellen to such a lonesome dining experience again, let’s all head to Fresh Slice at The Village after running the mile.

Winston's long ride home to Burnaby happened to be during some of the heaviest rain of the afternoon. The photo below of Winston's commute was taken by a photography student at Emily Carr who happened to be passing by.

Kory Seder 15:23
Barry Claman 15:29
Dylan 1:40 15:55
Brendan Neaf 15:58
Vincent Lavallee16:43
Kellen Kjera 17:01
John Heinz 17:34
Max 4:20 17:40
Johnson Jia 17:52
Derrick Lee 18:15
Winston Guo 18:06
Tyler Filteau 18:21
Ben 3:40 18:53
Eddy Wu 18:54
Kim Seder 18:30
Victoria Gilbert18:56
Steph Urness 18:56
Steph Flynn 19:31
Kaley 6:40 20:07
Drew 4:00 20:31
Seanna 5:20 20:31
Jen Bhatla 22:04
Claudia 6:20 22:10
Sherry 7:00 22:21

Race Season Begins

2011-03-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Had more of the competitors know that the vast majority of “The largest indoor triathlon in North America” was indeed held outdoors, I believe more sweaters, knitted scarves and leg warmers would have been seen in the transition area. No portion of the Sprint triathlon is indoors. Less than 3% (by distance) of the Olympic is indoors. I really don’t know where they find these misleading people for the UBC REC promotions department. Or the course measurement department for that matter.

The race gave many athletes their first real assessment of their fitness for the year. For some it was an early season reminder to get back on a training plan, for others this single race would have to represent the entire season. No rain overnight, no flats or major bike mishaps to report and no lack of Power Bar products in the club office would seem to indicate that the race was an overall success.

The fastest times for the day in the Olympic were posted by Brendan (2:18:08), Vince (2:19:30) and Max (2:28:59). This of course excludes all the non-UBC triathlon club members whose performances were rather mundane and certainly not worth writing about. Brendan had the fastest bike time of the day (1:10) and the minute that he gained on Vince here would decide the race. The run would only help him improve his lead. Brendan stealthily snuck into an earlier heat so that his competition would have no time to react to his lightning fast transitions and rather quick overall pace.

With only a single slice of toast to rely on as real food for the day, and no one near him in his heat; Vince raced rather well. With only a handful of Power Bar energy bites to nourish him during his 6 hours on campus before the start of his heat; Vince certainly earned the bagels and bananas at the finish line. Max was under the impression that Bratwurst was also being served at the finish, and the thought of such a delicacy powered him to a 39:46 10k. Max was doubly disappointed to discover that not only were no delicious sausages to be had, he actually had to run 10.5k to get there. I’m going to donate the rusty 6 foot tape measure in my garage to UBC REC, surely it will prove to be both a more precise and accurate instrument then what has been previously used to measure the course.

On the ladies side, Victoria won the race outright, no need to exclude all the times posted by unimportant non-club members. Her 2:39:20 is a full 17 minutes faster than she can cover the same distance when competing in two Olympic triathlons on the same day. A beautiful new teal Bianchi can’t hurt either.

Stephanie Flynn was next in 2:45:29, and would later learn with some frustration that being third overall is worth nothing. First and Second place get fabulous prizes but there is nothing left over for third place to get even a head nod. The fastest women’s swim time also gets no acknowledgement. But fear not, Stephanie, I am putting a trophy together using parts from a discarded shopping cart I found on Wreck beach. I will bring it to the next practice, and I assure you it is a far greater reward than a gift certificate to a bike shop or a crown of the finest olive branches.

Stephanie Urness was the next finisher from the club, in 2:53.30. While finishing both the bike and run close to a minute ahead of Ms. Flynn, a surprising upset in the pool left Ms. Urness with nearly 10 minutes to make up before even getting her helmet on. I don’t mean to overanalyze either of the girls’ performances, they both had a great race.

Not everything ran entirely smoothly. Despite painstaking efforts to create an elaborate duct tape framework that was structurally sound and deserving of any architects approval, Kellen still had to put his shoes on the old fashioned way. Lauren is awarded the coveted longest T1 prize. Bike in hand, realizing her gloves were still in her wet bag, Lauren did what we all would have done. Re-racked the bike, ran to the Aquatic Center, dug through a bin filled to the brim with other competitors’ wet bags and eventually found the forgotten gloves. Which leads to some question as to why we are all racing so early in the year as to make facing the chilly temperatures without gloves seem to be an unthinkable option.

Ben realized the folly of buying a tri suit that is anything but skin tight. Each push off the wall threatened to have the lifeguard call campus security with a report of indecent exposure. Eddy dealt with some painful, cramping legs on the run, I thought I might need to drag him from the finish to the Tri club office and begin comparison shopping amongst the different manufacturers of crutches. He should learn from Dylan, if your legs hurt (eg. shin splints),keep running and the painful sensation will subside for the last 5km.

For the sprint, Barry’s 1:08:15 brought him within 45 seconds of the overall winner. Had he not been hampered by the weight of his electrodynamics textbook, Barry almost certainly would have won the race. He did however, manage to get through two chapters while on the bike. Transition 1 was especially difficult; pulling the textbook out of its protective plastic casing took longer than his own clothing change. Drew (1:21:51) and I (1:15:36) had the next fastest times amongst UBC triathlon club members.

Karin Olafson took first among the club's female members in 1:26:19, while Keely Hammond was close behind, coming in under the 1:27 mark with a second to spare. Sherry Gu took third, close on their heels in 1:27:21. They train together, they race together, they all finished within a minute of each other. Also of note, these placings hold if we look at the current standings after four events in the Spring Fling. ((Karin, the Keely, then Sherry just 63 points behind). All three are closely matched and surely make great training partners.

It took me until a few minutes before the start of the Sprint to realize that I didn't quite fit in with my heat. I was placed in the heat not by swim time but because the earliest heat of the day would give me the most time to rest before the start of Olympic later that morning. Looking around the room it soon became apparent that no one was under 50, few were under 200 pounds, and a good many appeared as if they had been strolling through the Student's Union building and had mistakenly entered the package pickup line instead of the queue at Pie R Squared.

When we had to line up according to race number, mine was 2063 and everyone else was in the 2200’s. The lady who was previously at the front of the line was very much relieved, “Oh, I’m glad you’re going first, I was a little nervous, I’m just in this race because my sister is doing it”. If any of my fellow competitors from heat 2a) every stumble upon this post, please know that you were all lovely people, I enjoyed the competition and you have the bodies of gods. That being said, as I looked down the line, sizing up my competitors, I knew I had pretty good chances of being alone out on the bike course.

One man had struggled into a Tri suit (with the help of a gallon of Vaseline and a half dozen assistants I am sure) and I feared that the fabric might not hold together until the start of the swim, let alone the entire race. One man had seemingly found a vintage 1880’s full body, woollen swim costume at a local thrift store. Not a Speedo in sight. I realized I might not have anyone to draft off of.

I was the first to enter the outdoor pool for the day. A crowd had assembled, and being in first and feeling the need to keep up appearances, I attempted a flip turn in the shallow end right next to the timing table. I came up with the lane rope squarely between my shoulder blades. I assure you, no more flip turns were attempted for the remaining 600 meters. I was first on the bike. I was first one out on the run course. Since the first Olympic heat was still in the pool, I was the first to pass the volunteers controlling traffic and setting up the aid stations.

I made it my personal duty to say good morning to every one. I heard numerous shouts of encouragement, “you’re in the lead” and “the next guy is nowhere in sight”. Twice I was asked what I had eaten for breakfast. This was my Champs Elysées, an individual time trial course set up just for me. In short, if you ever need a massive ego boost, enter the 25:00/500m swim heat at your next local triathlon.

Kellen was unsatisfied with the catering company that he had hired to provide a post-race meal for his birthday. The bagels and bananas supplied fell short of the cupcakes, fondue fountain and cocktail bar that were promised. To compensate, Kellen rented out a private karaoke room at the J lounge to celebrate not only the fact that he was born an even multiple of 365 days ago, but the successful race as well. Most club members were proven to be more talented on the bike or in the pool than with a microphone, but the evening was enjoyed by all none the less.

DOWNHILL TIME TRIAL CANCELLED

2011-03-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

The UBC triathlon Club’s downhill time trial was canceled today on account of numerous injuries experienced by club members during the warm-up. A final tally of 6 broken hips, 2 fractured jaws, 18 cracked ribs and numerous scrapes and bruises were reported. A temporary ban on running of any kind on or near any sort of declined surface has been put into effect until the club treasurer can collect 3 more waivers from all club members that acknowledge the incredible risks associated with downhill running.

The one kilometer course is rather grueling, some tree roots, a few stumps and rocks, and the occasional errant dog that has strayed from its owner. While the steepest section of the course has a 5 foot railing along the drop-off, this comes near the end of the course where participants have reached maximum speed and the finish post is almost in sight. After 4 competitors broke through the railing and landed in the creek at the bottom during the warm-up run, the event was called off.

Most club members were feeling rather depressed about heading back to campus without some sort of number with which to compare themselves to others, so in the spirit of competition, an impromptu uphill time trial was arranged. With less impact on the joints, less chances to twist an ankle and far more searing pain in the lungs and throat; the uphill time trial may become a regular event with the club.

Several club members were unable to make it to the event tonight, but fortunately had recorded times on the downhill course from the previous week to add to tonight’s results. Times ranged from 1:33 to 2:55 and thankfully, all competitors also had the forethought to record their times going back up the hill, just for kicks. Individual Downhill times are omitted for the sake of brevity.

Kaley rounded up a couple of the fittest, most handsome timers she could find and managed to shave 23 seconds off of Jen’s record from September. While Kaley was off doing a few strides, Vince and I discussed the timing strategy, “So, she’ll likely finish just under 5 minutes… let’s have 2 watches going and run up with her”. Her timers made a better pre-race assessment of her fitness than she did, as Kaley was a bit shocked to see that there was no “5” before the other 2 digits on her watch at the top of the hill. The searing lungs and throat confirmed that it must have been fast. Her 4:57 certainly eclipsed the old record, but it would be nearly a week before she could be sure to hold onto it.

Stephanie Flynn and Sherry Gu both took advantage of the Monday night run to get their time trials out of the way. Under some rather slippery conditions and 20-30 foot stretches of snowy trail, the girls managed to run 5:41(Steph) and 6:16 (Sherry). They were then given 15 seconds of rest (10 would have been more appropriate) before being marshaled back into the pack for a run down to Blanca and back to campus.

On Wednesday morning I’m sitting on my couch shortly after cutting and filing my toenails. I have my gorgeous new race flats in hand, cutting out the labels with an X-acto knife (Ok, It’s official, I’m taking the Spring Fling too seriously), when Ben calls. “Can you time my uphill run?”. I readily agree, and faced with the prospect of running the hill a third time this week without actually racing myself, I decide that I must run it with Ben. And so we set off shortly after noon, with a bit of light rain on our way to Spanish Banks. By the time we had arrived, conditions were warm enough to do away with shirts and allow us some substantial weight savings for the time trial. Both Ben and I ran some fast times (3:58 and 4:33), but it would be six hours before we knew how they would compare with the group. I paid for simultaneous breaking two cardinal rules of running with some cut up heels. 1) Never wear new shoes for a race. 2) Certainly not if it is your first time going sockless in shoes.

A near record 34 competitors competed in the uphill run. Of the 16 athletes with times to compare from September, 12 saw improvement tonight. Kim and Karin were only one second away from their Fall Series uphill times, so really with 14 returning competitors either improving or holding even; the Spring Fling continues to looks like the most competitive of the point series to date. Brendan made the biggest improvement in his time this semester, his 4:35 being 25 seconds faster than in the same event in September.

The top three on the men’s side were myself (3:58), Max (4:05) and Vince (4:18). These times kept Barry in the overall lead for the series, with Vince making up some sunstantial ground and me being able to put an even more confortable buffer between Kellen’s overall points and my own. Without the added cumbersome mustache weight, Vince could have perhaps taken the overall lead from Barry. I fear the 10.2k in Iona, Kellen has just acquired a net set of lighter, faster, much more comfortable tri bars. And he drinks disgustingly healthy smoothies in the morning. And he’s taller than me.

Both Kaley (4:47) and Stephanie Urness (5:15) would finish faster than Jen’s record set in September. Victoria hit the previous record right on, finishing in 5:20 on the nose. All confusion of where the finish line may be (Parallel trees? Any two trees form a straight line…) was erased by a purple bandana and a shallow trench dug by Derrick. With two or three twisted ankles resulting from the finish line trench, Derrick had better watch himself at the next practice. Thankfully the finish lines of the last four events are either on pavement (Brick, 10.2k Bike) concrete (Aquathon) or very well marked (Mile) so no more treacherous finish line trenches will be required.

The Vancouver Sun’s forecast for “gale force winds in the Straight of Georgia” and “100km/h winds to topple trees, power lines” fortunately did not hold true. The only sign of destruction was a single fallen tree on the Salish trail that was certainly not there when Ben and I ran by that point earlier in the day. Also notably absent was Windstorm, who has not missed a point series event this year and can be expected to make up the time trial in the coming weeks.

If we take one ‘hill’ to be a standard unit of measurement, the uphill bike and run times can be compared. Disregarding length, grade, surface and many other important factors, let’s see who can climb a hill faster on foot than with the aid of the wheel. Vince is dead even, at 4:18 for both time trials. Kellen is 7 seconds faster on foot, followed by me (22 seconds), Max (28) Drew (35), and Ben (60). For the ladies, both Seanna (1 second) and Kaley (20 seconds) both posted faster times without a bicycle to get in the way.

Well after sunset, many of the finishers still found themselves lost in the forest. While the order of sacrifice was being determined if things were to result to cannibalism (Kellen- too bony), (Brendan- too pretty), one wise club member pointed out that the finish of the run is just 80 feet from a major road, we were not in fact lost, and we would not have to resort to such extreme measures.

In other news, an exciting new AMS club has been formed due to popular demand. The UBC Duathlon club will meet at 5:25 on Mondays and Wednesdays for runs as well as Saturday mornings at 8:55 for 60-80km rides. Tuesdays (1:30), Thursdays (8:00) and Sundays (9:30AM), the club will meet in front of the wall of mirrors at the Bird Coop to flex their muscles and complement each other’s physiques. Wife Beaters with the club logo are included with the administration fee. The club exec is also looking into starting a Duathlon specific yoga class on Friday afternoons where absolutely no emphasis will be placed on shoulder flexibility. This exciting new club promises to better than the similar, outdated UBC triathlon club in every way.

Uphill Run TT Spring 2011
John Heinz 3:58
Max Stallkamp 4:05
Vincent Lavallee 4:18
Kellen Kjera 4:26
Barry Claman 4:23
Brendan Neaf 4:35
Nathaniel Janzen 4:37
Drew Senay 4:44
Dylan 4:44
James 4:46
Liam Harrap 4:48
Jake Alleyne 4:57
Winston Guo 4:56
Kaley Strachan 4:57
Dirk Haupt 4:59
Reza Honarpisheh 4:59
Rodrigo Samayoa 5:00
Tim Tewsley 5:02
Jesse Chao 5:11
Eddy Wu 5:12
Stephanie Urness 5:15
Victoria Gilbert 5:20
Lauren Slattery 5:28
Seanna 5:30
Theresa Price 5:36
Karin Olafson 5:39
Stephanie Flynn 5:41
Johnson Jia 5:49
Kim Seder 5:54
Keely Hammond 6:04
Jen Bhatla 6:06
Sherry Gu 6:16
Dina Balfone 6:37
Matt Reeve DNS
Thomas Belshein phenomnia

ALPE D'HUEZ, 1/16 SCALE

2011-02-27T02:06:00.000-08:00

Several club members were eager to test out their new bikes against the uphill time trial course this morning. Johnson’s newly acquired Orbea, Stephanie Flynn’s first triathlon bike and even Kaley’s first bike without tassels on it. Now that a Tuesday spin class has been added to the weekly workouts for some club members, fast times coming up Marine Drive were almost guaranteed. Forecasted snow held off until the first few gentle flakes began to come down a half hour after the end of the event. Temperatures were on the cold side, a warm-up run of the hill was omitted from the schedule as the subsequent downhill back to the start line would have undone all of its effects. The nearest I could get to a temperature measurement was Brendan’s report, “Minus three. When I left my house”.

Ben was fortunate to have completed the time trial just before sunset last night. Clear skies meant no threat of snow, but the temperature was not a whole lot warmer.. Victoria and I were his official witnesses. I remained at the top of the hill while Victoria tried to block some of the wind on the frigid downhill for him. Also skipping a warm-up, Ben summited while still trying to keep enough energy reserved for the Velodrome that same evening. We wish him all the best while getting drunk in Whistler for the remainder of the weekend.

     Quite a few participants in this mornings race visited the Burnaby Velodrome last night, leaving them with less than 12 hours off the bike before the uphill time trial. From the reports I’ve heard, it’s very fun, you get comfortable not having brakes, it takes some getting used to, and don’t ever stop pedalling. 47 degree corners? I’m glad Sherwood went to Burnaby as well, had he been in bed resting I wouldn’t have been able to match his time for the uphill bike. But a tie is really a victory in my books, even if Sherwood did try to blame his “dead legs”. Had we measured the event to the nearest tenth of a second, I’m sure I would have been just ahead of him. I took off my Jacket and booties to save weight but forgot to take my water bottle out of its cage. Without this mental lapse, I surely would have come in well ahead of Sherwood. This was Vince’s error last semester as well, removing even his bar tape but neglecting to think about the water bottle.

     We tied for 3rd place, two seconds behind Vince in 4:18. Barry managed to increase his margin of victory substantially over last semester, winning by over 20 seconds in 3:56. His own record of 3:52 from October still stands. Had Vince managed to shave 9 seconds off of his time, he would be the current overall leader of the point series. With five events left to come, the men’s competition is still very close.

      Dylan’s 200km rides have paid off with a 5th place finish in 4:23. I might mention that only a small portion of those rides were done uphill, at maximal exertion, after an evening Velodrome visit and a late night dinner. Train the way you race Dylan, train the way you race. And get some better fitting tights. If you can fit an entire loaf of bread in there, you’ve either lost 70 pounds recently or bought the wrong tights. He still beat Brendan though, who took five seconds off of his uphill time from October and finished in 4:30.

      Kory managed to put out the highest peak wattage of any cyclist in the V02 Max study, 526. A feat that is commemorated by an infrequently updated whiteboard on the third floor of the Westbrook building. Even though the study came at a point in his training calendar with some of the lowest cycling mileage for the year. The club’s most powerful cyclist (title subject to Kory’s approval) finished just behind Brendan in 4:31.

      I feared a defeat at the hands of Kellen today, and not without reason, he put out 440 watts on the stationary bike at one point during the VO2 test, well above my 403. And yet while Kellen beat me by a single point at the end of the Fall Classic, things are looking good for me this spring, I haven’t loss to him yet. It’s important to be overly competitive sometimes. The mighty lungs that used about 25 000 mililiters of oxygen to get him up the hill today earned him a time of 4:33. (160/2.2kg x 4.5min x 78) Max finished with the same time, although likely using less of the atmosphere's precious oxygen. Germans are all about efficiency, just look at the Volkswagen.

     Derrick’s time was just two seconds back in 4:35. Perhaps he was also feeling the effects of a late night visit to the Burnaby Velodrome. But he must have enjoyed it, because I heard talk of using his next 4 months of rent money to buy a track bike.

   Johnson, starting second, had the opportunity to draft off of Barry. He decided to be a good sportsman and complete his own time trial, finishing in 4:44. He took off his Korean terrorist mask for the climb, it was just to keep his face warm in the parking lot he said. Curiously, on the subsequent frigid ride to Horseshoe Bay and back the mask was never used. A pre-race intimidation tactic, I suspect.

     Johnson also wins the title of most improved, taking 31 seconds off of his uphill bike time. He attributes his newfound fitness largely to P90X and pilates videos that he had shipped to Blaine, Washington. I told him he actually had to watch the videos and do the exercises, not just purchase them, to see results. Johnson has been starting his day with three and a half hours of pilates ever since.

     Math research occupies the remainder of his time, number theory specifically. He has spent two years now working on a method to determine the 100th digit of pi. Experts in his field eagerly anticipate publication of his results. Whatever the 100th digit turns out to be, many lead researchers are already speculating. Bookies are giving two to one odds on the number 4, and six to one on the number 7. He is also working on a machine that can solve Sudoku puzzles with a two star difficulty rating. The biggest challenge so far has been trying to find a robot that can grip a pen. How he ever manages to find time to fit in all of his training, I’ll never know.

      Winston decided to chill his muscles with his usual 20k ride in from Burnaby and finished in 4:56. I’ll bet he’s not glad he beat me in that body fat challenge now, I definitely saw some shivering, even before he left the club office. Drew was next behind Winston in the rankings, having snuck his room mate’s bike out of the house for the occasion. The main appeal was the carbon fiber seat post, carbon equals speed of course. Drew liked it so much that he’s now looking into getting a carbon fiber t-shirt for the UBC triathlon next weekend.

   As was the case last fall, Victoria had the fastest time for the ladies this morning (5:11). Stephanie Urness was just one second off the leader. After the race, she revealed that she had spent the previous night at The Gallery drinking several pitchers of Canadian and feels that this was an even bigger handicap than a night at the Velodrome.

    There was a tie for third between Kim and Kaley, both coming in at 5:17. At the last executive meeting it was decided that all ties in point series events will be resolved by a visit to BC Sushi. Rock-Paper-Scissors ensues, the winner deciding between one of two challenges. Who can eat the most baked oysters (by weight) or who can eat the most mango pudding without chewing. Neither gastronomic challenge is particularly appealing to watch or participate in. Check back later for the results of that contest.

    On only her second outing with the Triathlon club, Seanna recorded a time of 5:31, proving that indeed red is a fast color for a bike. Stephanie Flynn recovered from an earlier case of “Winston Syndrome” to finish 3 seconds behind in 5:34. I had previously thought that “Winston Syndrome” is when your office job consumes all of your energy and leaves you very vulnerable to afternoon naps. I was corrected today, the syndrome actually refers to having problems with your crank within half an hour of the start of a race. Kellen quickly rectified the situation and Stephanie was able to race. All of the girls finished within 23 seconds of each other. That's how big Barry's lead over second place was in the guy's race. A much closer race for sure.

   Jen Bhatla was immediately in front of me in the starting order, and on her first pedal stroke her chain snapped. I would have made some offer of help, but I was starting in 9 seconds so I just stared at her and her misfortune. Then I took about twice that long to clip in. She eventually did get the chain back together and completed the hill climb, in a respectable 6:15.

Notable absences included include Matt Reeve and Thomas. Thomas reportedly has come down with a bad case of “phenomnia”. I hope that isn’t the Doctor’s diagnosis. Assuming he meant pneumonia, his absence is quite understandable. Sherwood told you not to lick the urinals at the Velodrome Thomas, this is your own fault. That’s how you get pneumonia, right? Matt received his third DNS of the point series, a shame since his 4:02 last semester proves he could have been a contender for the win this time around.

In the end I heard 3 people say that Kellen’s high five’s in the parking lot were encouraging, but 5 people mentioned that it threw them off for their mental preparations. A bit less enthusiasm at the start would be appreciated next time. Everyone who joined the post-race ride to get pie in West Vancouver experienced the cold to some degree. Winston won the contest. It is also the first Saturday that I have ever bested Winston’s mileage for the day. I’m going to move to Port Coquitlam and ride in to campus for every practice, that should show him. The pie was worth it. There was rhubarb. There was strawberry. There was every possible combination of those two fruits that you can imagine. Only one rider was brave enough to get ice cream on the side.

Barry Claman 3:56:00
Vincent Lavallee 4:18:00
John Heinz 4:20:00
Sherwood Plant 4:20:00
Dylan Stephanian 4:23:00
Brendan Naef 4:30:00
Kory Seder 4:31:00
Kellen Kjera 4:33:00
Max Stallkamp 4:33:00
Derrick Lee 4:35:00
Johnson Jia 4:44:00
Winston Guo 4:56:00
Victoria 5:11:00
Stephanie Urness 5:12:00
Kim Seder 5:17:00
Kaley Strachan 5:17:00
Jen Moroz 5:19:00
Drew Senay 5:19:00
Seanna 5:31:00
Ben Kresnyak 5:33:00
Steph Flynn 5:34:00
Jen Bhatla 6:15:00

Five Hundred Meters, Still The Equalizer

2011-02-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

If you’ve read the October 500m swim entry you will know that the title “Five Hundred Meters to Equality” still very much applies for the Spring Fling. Had Nathaniel not made it back to campus after a trip to the airport for the last seven minutes of the swim practice, the top three overall places would belong to the ladies.

         The second event of the 2011 Spring Fling brought out many new competitors who had not raced in the Fall Series. Only 12 of the 31 competitors had times to compare with the same event held in October. Of these 12, 10 improved on their times, so Ivan and our two fantastic guest coaches for January must have done something right. Most improvements were not all that small either, 8 of the 10 swimmers took over 10 second off of their times.

      Kim remained remarkably consistent between the two semesters, 8:59 in the fall and 9:01 this time around. So really 11 of 12 repeat competitors held even or did better. Only Eddy ruined the trend, a full 11 seconds slower. Couldn’t you have slowed down a bit last fall, Eddy? It’s not good to set one’s standards too high.

     Jen Moroz and I saw the biggest improvements, 50 seconds each. And I attribute most of my improvement to her, if anyone has Monday or Friday mornings free, head to the aquatic center at 7:30, she will make you work. She will give you some good drills. She will shout encouragement. She will not however, and somewhat lamentably, let you spend very much time in the hot tub. Probably better for my blood pressure anyway. Drew took a full half minute off of his time, the next biggest improvement over last fall. Overall

     Brendan also improved significantly over last fall, by 15 seconds. I inquired after the race and he said he attributes his performance to his strict diet of a weekly Splitz burger and the occasional coffee from The Boulevard. Low calorie, low nutrient, virtually no endorsement from medical professionals, but High performance! Oh yeah, and he’s been swimming more too. More mileage in the pool couldn’t hurt.

     Nathaniel’s appearance toward the end of practice left him enough time to compete, but perhaps little left for a warm-up. I was standing in the shallow end between lengths, pretending to need to clear my goggles for the 30th time (I need frequent rests). I glanced over and heard Ivan at other end of the pool, “Seven minutes exactly”. I knew Stephanie had won the race.On the men's side, Vince would take second with 7:22 and Dylan would follow in 7:45. If swim practices didn't take so much precious time away from cycling, perhaps Dylan could lower his time even further.

      Stephanie Flynn won the race in 6:54, followed by Kendra and Karin in 7:04 and 7:20, respectively. Jen Bhatla and Jeanie also came in under the 8 minute mark, a feat that nearly three-quarters of the men failed to accomplish.

Pretty impressive when you consider the fact that Stephanie was tapering for her real goal race which was still a week away. She had to beat an ex-boyfriend in the 50m at a Masters swim meet. Which she did, by a solid 3 seconds. At the same meet she also held her 7 minute 500m pace, swimming just over 21 minutes for the 1500m. I’m going to stay out of her lane at the UBC triathlon next month.

A photo of Stephanie that Kellen took post-race is included below.

      The majority of Participants then gathered in the men’s sauna for a post-race debrief. The more traditional post-swim hot tub was not an option. Tragically, the hot tub was out of order, “imbalanced chemicals” said the sign. But fear not, I’ve already called every pool technician and cleaning service in the Vancouver Yellow Pages. Very few answer their phones on Sundays. I’ve also sent numerous faxes to the SFU and UBC chemistry departments, explaining the situation and seeing if they could please do something to bring balance back to those darn hot tub chemicals.

      If it isn’t open again by Monday, I’ll write my member or parliament. That’s sure to elicit a quick response from the aquatic center staff. I’ll call one of those mobile spa rental companies and get them to park a hot tub next to the outdoor pool as a temporary measure. I’m also working on a plan to seal off the bottom of the steam room door and re-route a hot water pipe. Rest assured, there will be a hot tub after Tuesday’s swim. I'm thinking of taking a part time job at the aquatic center for the rest of the semester, I will personally test the water samples and ensure that such a difficult situation does not arise again.

       The Sauna wasn’t without its advantages. There were no splashes from little kids getting hot tub water deep into your retinas. You can frighten the lifeguard when he comes to do his rounds. You can see the thermometer. The one guy who happened to be in there and isn’t part of the club feels awkward. It’s much easier to talk to each other. Topics of discussion ranged from leg hair grooming strategies for men to push-up world records (46 000 in 24 hours?, 2521 one-armed in one hour?).

Matt Reeve was again absent at the start of the event. But he must be around somewhere because I see he has received 150 points in the series. Likely still a bit overconfident, Matt may believe he can win the Spring Fling with a really, really fast brick time and forget about all of the other events.

The Spring Fling now takes its longest break, a full 20 days until the uphill bike later this month. Only 2 rest days break up the 21 stages of the Tour de France. I don’t want to hear any complaints of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

Nathaniel Janzen 7:00:00
Vincent Lavallee 7:22:00
Dylan Stephanisan 7:45:00
Barry Claman 7:50:00
Eddy Wu 7:56:00
Brendan Neaf 8:10:00
Winston Guo 8:45:00
Navid 8:49:00
John Heinz 8:59:00
Johnson Jia 9:39:00
Ben 9:40:00
Drew Senay 9:50:00
Max 10:00:00
Kellen Kjera 10:00:00
Tiger Yu 10:10:00
Dirk Haupt 10:30:00
Matt Reeve DNS
Stephanie Flynn 6:56:00
Kendra Swain 7:04:00
Karin Olafson 7:20:00
Jen Bhatla 7:35:00
Jeanie 7:54:00
Claire Askew 8:23:00
Jen Moroz 8:30:00
Victoria Gilbert 8:40:00
Kaley Strachan 8:58:00
Kim Seder 9:01:00
Stephanie Urness 9:29:00
Lauren Slattery 9:54:00
Allison McDonald 10:05:00
Yan 12:10:00

THE FIVE K

2011-02-25T01:07:00.001-08:00

Thirty-three participants turned out for the first event of the Spring Fling. A lap of the course was run not only for a warm-up, but to sort out any confusion about which tree marks the finish (a traffic pylon served to further clarify). The location of parked cars was noted, (thankfully none too close to the corners!), layers were shed and the start of the race was less than 10 minutes away. No rain throughout the day left the streets dry and for early February, it was a rather pleasant evening, 4 or 5 degrees. Just a few degrees shy of perfect race weather, daylight would help too. The notable absence of Matt Reeve at the start line left some wondering if the side plaques of the trophy in the office were up for grabs, the previous champion would later receive a DNS. Surely he should have informed someone he couldn’t make it to the race, or perhaps three previous race series victories have made him confident that he can attend 5 or 6 events and still perform well enough to win the series.

Several competitors knew that they were a mere half hour from putting this impediment to the February Push-up Challenge behind them. Without the race (And Sunday’s looming 500m swim) to hinder daily push-up totals, relief was not far off. Some argument briefly erupted over whether tapering for Spring Fling events was a bit excessive. No, it was decided, it certainly is not, it’s practical and quite understandable.

In the end, 14 of 22 athletes who attended the same race in November improved on their times, with the three biggest improvements coming from Keely Hammond (40 seconds) Rodrigo Samayoa (31 seconds) and Stephanie Flynn. Steph was fresh off a 5k PB over the Christmas break and using an interpolated Steveston Ice Breaker 8k time, a 29 second improvement over her November 5k time was calculated. Let’s be fair, we couldn’t force her to race again with only two recovery days. Not to belittle Theresa’s one second PB. A new record is a new record.

Some other personal notes: (If I missed your name this time, please forgive me, there’s 7 events left, one man can only observe so much, and please do feel free to share any race stories with me.)

After a Christmas of debauchery, enormous meals and reduced training; Winston managed to smash his “I just wanna go sub 20” goal with a 19:04.

Thomas finally found a 12 hour period where he miraculously was not sick, and his blood concentrations of NyQuil, Tylenol, Vicks Vapour Rub and Buckley’s Bedtime were at some of their lowest levels in months. Further drug tests are ongoing to determine if his 19:04 PB will be allowed to stand.

Thomas crossed the finish line right behind Winston, both in 19:04. During a post-race interview, I asked Thomas if he had just sat on Winston’s shoulder the whole time, let him set the pace and do all the work. “Oh, no” Thomas replied. “Nothing to do with race strategy, that’s just where I could get the best view of his legs, from a few strides back”. And they are indeed rather nice legs, we can’t hold that against him.

Since several of the club’s members have participated in a V02 max study on campus and now find themselves with an array of numbers with which to make direct comparisons, many were eager to see how Kellen’s V02 of 78 would stack up tonight. I might add that for one brief 15 second interval, a VO2 of 82 was reached. That means his body is using just 4 less millilitres of oxygen per kilogram, every minute, than Lance Armstrong does. The guy that won the Tour de France. More than once. Just 98 less than your average thoroughbred race horse. Just 158 less than your average sled dog. The mighty lungs were good for a quick 18:16. Forced to run alone (not that anyone that tall can really draft), no one was within 20 seconds in front or behind him. I tried to shout some encouragement on the last stretch, “You're near the finish!” After the race, I discovered Kellen had misheard me and took my encouragement for an unsportsmanlike insult. “Your rear is thin-ish”, is what he heard. Not far from the truth.

Vince took 14 seconds off his PB with a 17:41. The Prefontaine of the pack, Vince had the length of two parked cars on the pack before we had seen the orange pylon for the first time. A lead which he held through the first mile and even successfully defended once or twice. Still 4 seconds shy of Matt Reeve’s November record, I am reminded. Some rivalries never end, even with geographical separation.

On the girl’s side, American Triple T partners Kim and Victoria were separated by only a single placing, so they should have no problem holding the same pace as a team in Ohio.

The top 4 spots were filled by competitors who hadn’t raced the 5k in November. Kaley set a new course record of 19:29, while Naiely Cabrera took second on one of her first few runs with the club. Lauren was just a few seconds behind followed by Stephanie Urness. With the new point scoring system, all of them are within a few dozen points of each other and the Spring Fling title could still have many contenders. Kaley’s win comes after a rather high mileage January with a 22k run just two days before the race, so there’s reason to believe the girl’s record could be lowered even further. Never has the point series seen so many athletes who are quick when it comes to one aspect of the triathlon along with many well rounded individuals. Competition should be close on both the guy’s and girl’s side.

For myself, the first mile flew by as I tried to gradually reel in Vince. I try to never look back so I could never be sure who’s echoing footsteps followed, watching as their shadow merged with mine every time we went under another lamp post. Not the most relaible way to keep track of distance. In the end, Max stuck within a second of me and I think he likely pushed me to take 15 or 20 seconds off my time. Carl wasn’t far behind, and when you consider his training was almost exclusively in sub zero temperatures, in the snow, with downhill skis on, he raced very well on this somewhat drier, warmer, and very much flatter course. Vince, Barry and Brendan all finished well under the 18 minute mark.

As I crossed the line, Jen, (who’s Achilles had graciously volunteered her to be the timer) called out “seventeen flat”. My watch agreed, 17:00.32, if you can get that kind of precision with a Timex. So if I had worn my brand new 4.6 ounce shoes, had a little less pasta for lunch, had there been one less turn in the course, I might have broken that magic 17 minute barrier. Had the ancient Babylonians (from whom we have borrowed our timekeeping) chosen 61 as a base for their numeral system instead of 60, I would have made it easily. These are a whole lot of excuses for not pushing just a little bit harder.

John Heinz 17:00
Max Stallkamp 17:01
Carl Reilly 17:24
Barry Claman 17:33
Vincent Lavallee 17:41
Brendan Neaf 17:54
Kellen Kjera 18:16
Liam Harrap 18:50
James Montgomery 19:00
Winston Guo 19:04
Thomas Belshein 19:04
Ben Kresnyak 19:10
Drew Senay 19:11
Nathaniel Janzen 20:10
Rodrigo Samayoa 20:26
Scott Chris 21:01
Matt Ridley 21:50
Johnson Jia 22:11
Mattias Kretschmer 24:43
Matt Reeve DNS
Kaley Strachan 19:29
Naiely Cabrera 20:41
Lauren Slattery 20:46
Stephanie Urness 21:04
Victoria Gilbert 21:08
Kim Seder 21:23
Stephanie Flynn 21:23
Theresa Price 21:27
Keely Hammond 21:29
Karin Olafson 21:55
Sherry Gu 22:24
Dina Bulfone 23:14
Jen Bhatia 23:24
Lauren Riva 23:45

New Point Breakdown for Race Series

2011-02-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

For many reasons I don't really want to get into, we decided to change the way we tally the points for the race series. Instead of giving 30 points to the winner and then just roll down throughout all participants, a more consistent point allocation is going to be used.

The winner of each event (male and female) each get 1000 points. And your points are given out depending on how far off the winner you were.

Winners time 900 seconds

Your time 1000 seconds

Number of points winner gets = 1000

Number of points you get = 1000 X (900/1000) = 900 points

Additionally you will receive 50 participation points for each event to are at!

Hopefully this will make it more exciting because it means that big comebacks are possible!

If this doesn't work. We will go back to the way it was before.

Fall Classic Race Series Results

2011-01-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the spreadsheet with all of the results/times from the Fall Classic Race Series. If there is anything you'd like to emend/change, please just request permission to alter the google doc.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsmaMEzpUtWedEVtekZjVVZZMEVOTkpsQ2hXWUtuQ0E&hl=en&pli=1#gid=1

SPRING FLING

2011-01-18T20:16:00.001-08:00

The events for the Spring Fling Race Series have been schedules. The dates/events are as follows:

Running 5K: Wednesday, Feb. 2
500 m swim: Sunday, Feb. 6
Uphill Bike TT: Saturday, Feb. 26
Uphill Run TT: Wednesday, Mar. 2
Mile: Wednesday, Mar. 9
10K Cycling TT: Saturday, Mar. 12
Brick: Saturday, Mar. 19
Aquathon: Sunday, Mar. 20
STORM THE WALL!

Training Logs

2010-11-29T15:18:00.000-08:00

This is a cross post from Training and Contemplation...
Last year Vince convinced me that it would be a great idea to keep track of my training hours for this season and provided me with a great link to the google doc spreadsheet he uses to track his own hours / distances. At first I thought it would be arduous to keep up and I would eventually fall of the logging wagon, however being able to compare hours and distances with my fellow triathletes is a great motivator. Therefore as the end of 2010 rolls around I find myself cleaning up and updating my 2010 log making it ready for the 2011 season. I thought therefore this would be a good time to offer up a copy to any of those who would like to start logging in the current season, or who are still stuck in the dark ages of Excel logging. The color scheme can of course be change for those who loath the one I have selected, I do recommend differentiating the colours in the separate Swim / Run / Bike columns to easily see where your missing out in your training.

Excerpt from my 2010 "Workout Data" tab

The interface is fairly simple, simply log your distance and hours in the appropriate format in the main "Workouts Data" tab and that information is referenced through to the: Overall, Swim, Bike, and Run tabs. Information presented in these tabs such as the distance / time per week is a great way to chart your continuing progress. Having a lazy week? A low bar on a graph has more than once inspired me to hit that late night Sunday swim slot.

Excerpt from 2010 "Swim Graphs" Tab

The "PB's" or Personal Best's tab is a good way to track race and personal goal improvement over a single discipline. Similarly the "Races" tab allows you to analyze your races over the season without having to comb back through Champion Timing data. Gear information I really have yet to find a use for, but I hope to next year go through my gear and figure something out... Finally the "Current Totals" Tab was created to link to a blog as explained in this post.

Excerpt from 2010 "Overall" tab

So what are you waiting for? Make yourself a copy of the "Training Log 2011" and start logging in the new year!

Imperial Unit

2010-11-21T00:21:00.000-08:00

5280 feet.

63,360 inches.

8 furlongs.

4 laps.

1 mile.

The Mile.

There is a deep connection to the word mile. The word represents a standard. Mile high. Mileage. If you give and inch, you give a mile. Going the extra mile. Walk a mile in a man's shoes. The trial of miles and miles of trials. The sound of this word bristles the neck hairs of those who run. And while all runners log miles; not all runners are brave enough to toe the line and to RACE THE MILE.

The mile conjures up my memories of high school gym class requirements or a minimum fitness test for high school soccer. (High school is Grade 9-12 to those of us in the good old US of A). And while I can't speak for any Canadians, I can let you know the dread that crosses the minds of kids in the states when they are asked to run the mile for gym class. Perhaps today's kids are soft... some of them certainly look quite squishy these days. But the day of the mile probably elicits more doctors notes and excuses for non-participation than any other day - with the possible exception of Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

I remember training for my first mile. I had my dad drive his car around the park road at the park near my house. I wasn't much of a trained runner back then - in fact I knew nothing of training. But I remember feeling an excitement about timing myself for the distance. I wanted to race a mile, so I practiced by racing a mile. It was yet to cross my mind that running further than a mile would be good training. And when I performed for my first actual race I still remember my time. Fast forward 15 years to 2009 and I would race my next mile as part of last year's UBC race series, it wasn't until last year's race that I would finally improve upon my first mile. It was what I call, a PR (personal record - aka personal best).

Now, thanks to the 2010 edition of the UBCTC Fall Race Series I have returned to test myself against the very same mile. To follow is my recollection of the events as they unfolded...

To me, my race was against myself. Sure I was hoping to pick-off a runner or two who had finished ahead of me last year - but deep down this was between ME (now) and ME (then). In order to improve on last years race I needed to run a smarter race. I had been training differently between the two years. Last year I had more volume and was in the midst of recreating myself as a run - this year my training was lighter in volume but richer in quality. I have been working on my form and efficiency - I've continued to strengthening my core, focused on turnover and keeping my contact time with the ground to a minimum.

First item to running a smarter race was not going out too fast on the first lap. Last year I went out too fast and surely paid the price later in the race. This year I wanted to keep all my laps within 5 seconds of each other. I've found that mentally running through my game plan helps me to execute a better performance.

Here was my plan for execution of a PR:
Lap 1 Get out clean, breath and remain relaxed.
Lap 2 settle into my pace and be as efficient as possible.
Lap 3, Don't get distracted. Now is not the time for weakness.
Lap 4. Accelerate through the corners and push like hell.

I also had specific time goals for each lap. In addition to the goal of following my plan above, I also like to have some specific goals. I could write a whole blog on goal setting, but for now I will share that in my experience, setting multiple levels of goals can be helpful. My time goals were a bit loftier - but I'm not afraid to set a goal that I can't quite reach.

Now if anyone actually remembers the actual events of the race - more power to them. To me the race was a blur. I focused solely on myself for each step and did fairly well. I set a PR and reeled in one runner who had beat me before. But I did not reach my time goal and I got out-kicked in the finishing straight by 2 runners.

Nothing motivates me more than being beat by an honest effort. I am very lucky to have clawed my way up in the race where I have several competitors. I will be motivated for next year's mile and will train to now beat this year's time and perhaps out-kick a few more runners.

Now for those who have read this so far here I will attempt to start some discussion. My hope is that through the 'Comments' section, we can re-create the events of the race by each personal account.

- This year's event featured a Battle of the Sexes. The Men were held to a 60 second handicap start. The grand prize was a 3 point bonus for the first racer (man or woman) to the finish line. I was on the opposite side of the track when the finish line was crossed, but I believe that John claimed the prize for the Men. The women's winner on the night, Kaley was caught just before the line. Go Men!

- Barry has some competition for the official position of 'Super-fast runner man'. An honorary title.

-Winston is learning to run a steadier pace - finally Harmin the Garmin is happy. According to Kellen's Garmin, he ran a spiral route out into the Georgia Straight. These two will battle again in the future.

- I, Kory finally caught Liam. Liam discounted the achievement by stating that he was fat and out of shape. (I'll still take it).

- Victoria ran herself back to physio. Were have I seen this before? She's tough as nails, but also as smart as them. Will her hamstrings gain the strength needed to counter-balance her ever increasing quad strength? Or will she continue to race until the wheels fall off? Stay tuned.

- John set a new tri-club record, one that I predict will stand for a long time.

- President Kim took almost 20 seconds off of last year's time.

- Matt beat Vince. Vince still blames his concussion.

Hillclimb Timetrial

2010-11-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

The hardest people are born in two different conditions: In the headwinds or on the grades. Todays race determined if you there are any among us who even have a chance of being likened to the greats.

The short grunt up Marine Drive isn't as steep as the Koppenberg, or as long as Passo Della Stelvio, but what it lacks in impress features it makes up for in its demands for raw performance. It is easy to make it up, but you have to dig into the bottom of your legs in order to be the first up.

Cold weather immediately drew out the hardest. Preparing to race in six degrees is no easy feat, but most didn't have a qualm with it, and forced their way up the hill regardless of whether or not they could feel their toes.

If you could sprint by the top, you did, but if yo

u worked hard enough on the rest of the hill then you didn't have to.

Barry Claman flew up the hill posting an impress sub 4 minute time. The Diesel engine of Kory Seder also managed to get up in just 4:02 seconds. No one knows exactly how fast Matt Reeve went, all we know is that it that it was very fast. Victoria posted an impress climb as well, working the steep section!

No photos were taken, since no one could feel t

heir fingers enough to focus a camera, so here's a pi

cture of the Koppenberg instead. I'm on the right.

For those who couldn't make it out, we expect to see you out training for the spring races when the competition heats up again.

Here are the official results from Vince, missing some names and probably needing some revision.

b Kory Seder 4:02

b Carl 4:19

b Kellen Kjera 4:23

b Sherwood 4:25

b Max 4:26

b John Heinz 4:32

b Vincent Lavallee 4:35

b Brendan Neaf 4:35

b Dylan 4:41

b Winston Guo 4:46

b Jesse Chao 4:53

b Tyler Filteau 5:00

b Eddy Wu 5:11

b Johnson Jia 5:15

b Navid 5:17

b Jason 5:23

b Dirk Haupt 6:00

b Reza 6:38

g Victoria Gilbert 5:07

g Jen Bhatla 5:34

g Karin Olafson 5:45

g Rachel Schoeler 5:51

g Kyuwon Kim 6:01

g Sherry Gu 6:17

From Iona, Through Time

2010-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Since the start of time, man has sought to go fast. The first person who discovered that running away from a predator is better than walking away led this march for mankind’s need to go faster.

From then on, humans have pushed the boundaries of how far and how fast we can go. Electricity developed a better use than just electrocuting animals. The Jeantaud Duc set the land speed record in 1898 at 63.15kph using an electric engine. Then, 99 years later, some crazy blokes from England decided to break that record by over 1500km/h! Sweet stuff from swell minds, yet there lacked a human connection there. Sure these drivers went balls fast. And sure, if they crashed they would die an awesome death. And sure they are pushing the cutting edge of their technology, but each case lacked that primordial link that first pushed humans to strive for speed.

What better way to feel connected to your primal roots than to put forth a display a raw, genuflecting power. Disdained by all around for their allaroundness, the UBCTC set out to do just that: Ravage the 10.2km Iona Time trial with shear force.

Conditions were ideal for The Giant to lay down a Tour de France shattering 14:29 time; leading the way, and thus making a 5km long draft zone for the rest of the club.

Shortly thereafter, 3 engineers followed pursuit. Md R, the fizzer, and the blazing red posted a blistering sub 16:00 time. It must be noted that these individuals, minus the doctor, time trialed on road bikes, something even Spartans would herald as bold.

It seemed the men were dominating this challenge. Dylan, Kellen, Brendan, and Derrick were all part of the top 10 to finish. The male domination continued until el presidentee pounced upon the rest of the male pack with a staggering 16:48, finishing as the top female in the club.

The generally good-looking guy fell short of Kim Seder by 2 seconds, something the handsome men’s club simply will not allow. Vince has probably lost his membership to the club by now.

After all the old folks finished, the young ones took to the stage. Eddy Wu, the young maverick, just keeps getting faster. His performance is only limited to the amount of sleep he had the other night. Unfortunately, those 6 meager hours of sleep he had the other night resulted in him getting chicked by el presidentee. Next time he’ll work doubly hard to not let such an event happen again, or he’ll use physics and set the frame of reference to the moon so that he completes 10.2km in 25.2seconds, making him the fastest man alive!

Victoria Gilbert, who is also better known as “watch out, you’re going to get chicked”, rode an intergalactic, lactose intolerance inducing, lengen… wait for it –dairy pace, only 2 seconds behind the Chao-lin monk.

Some have fallen victim to the days event. Jen Moroz and Ceilidh Curtis suffered mechanical failures that inhibited them from proving their might.

Overall, the UBCTC did what they set out to do: brew up a Winstorm on a peaceful Saturday morning. Standings list the order of the outcome

Kory Seder 14:29

Matt Reeve 15:05

Barry Claman 15:45

Sherwood Plant 15:48

Dylan Stephanian 15:52

Kellen Kjera 15:54

Brendan Naef 16:05

Derrick Lee 16:16

Kim Seder 16:48

Vincent Lavallee 16:50

Tyler Filteau 16:53

Winston Guo 16:57

Eddy Wu 17:27

Jesse Chao 17:36

Victoria Gilbert 17:38

Johnson Jia 17:39

Rodrigo Samayoa 17:50

Melanie Van Soren 18:42

Rachel Schoeler 20:04

Jen Bhatla 20:10

Kywon Kim 20:53

Laura Freeman 35:22

Ceilidh Curtis DNF

Jen Moroz DNF

Revenge of the Brick

2010-10-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Droid forces of the evil Separatists gather above the Wookie planet Kashyyyk. The Jedi Knights have been dispatched to stop the invasion and re-build peace in the galaxy

Oops, sorry…. Wrong blog.

Here we go . . . with the weather gods holding the rain at bay 23 eager UBC Triathletes braved the nippy temperature for what turned out to be quite the morning. It started at the club office where much to Kellen’s dismay numerous bike tires were grossly under inflated. He quickly got to work and set matters right patiently explaining to each underinflated tire and owner why tire pressure mattered so much.

Shortly after everyone rolled out and followed the current UBC TC Fall Classic Race Leader Matt Reeve to the transition area. It should be noted that after many comments from the peanut gallery over the last couple weeks concerning his lack of cape wearing he’d finally found the nerve to wear his flashy gold and blue cape that morning.

At the transition everyone positioned their shoes in what was hoped to be a strategic order and fortunately there was no one out shoe shopping that morning because lets face it, if anyone had wanted a new pair of runners I’m sure they could have found a size, colour, and style to their liking amongst the 23 pairs spread out on display. Numerous members questioned the safety of leaving their precious bikes unguarded while they pounded the pavement around the stadium. Their fears were put to rest however as Derick volunteered to be the official time keeper and bike guard extraordinaire (he seems to be doing a better job taking care of other peoples bikes then his own lately).

Next up was a warm up lap of the run and bike course to make sure all members were familiar with the twists and turns the Brick was about to throw at them. Well lets face it, the only real twists and turns are deciding if you want to risk beating that car to make the turn at Kullahun Drive in order to save yourself a few precious seconds. Or in Winston’s case whether or not to “storm thru” the red light and save himself a few more seconds were it not for the cop car waiting on the opposite side of the intersection (perhaps having been tipped off to watch out for just such stormy indiscretions).

Finally at 10am with not so fresh legs due to the killer Wreck Beach stair workout on Wednesday everyone was lined up and ready to go. After some discussion about where Jesse would start he decided to line up behind Victoria in an effort to not let a repeat of the Victoria Half Marathon cloud his day (see the results to find out if his choice paid off). Much to everyone’s dismay their race leader had ditched his gold and blue cape and would no longer be wearing it during the race. Despite the fact he was earlier quoted as saying “seeing as Kory hasn’t shown up, this ones in the bag” it now seemed as though he was worried his cape wouldn’t hold up to the aerodynamics of Vince’s disk wheel. Melanie on the other hand wasn’t so concerned about aerodynamics and was considering racing in some oversized gloves and a jacket that looked more like a parachute.

With everyone starting 15 seconds apart to help enforce the new rule of no drafting not much can be said for the race itself other than there were numerous calves screaming for the pain to stop. Some racers, whether by choice or default, raced with runners and flat pedals which surely aided them in having a speedy transition. Karin, the proud owner of a new road bike, was out for her first tri club ride of the year and Laura was seen crossing the finish line with her usual enthusiasm.

It should also be noted that a certain someone whose name is Tyler has made it his goal to set a new course record for the Brick next time around. Will our current leader be up to the challenge, has his new facebook fan club group gone to his head, or will he need to call upon the Jedi Knights for assistance? Better still, will Kory be able to smash the current course record (20:08) next weekend when he try’s his luck at the Brick. Time will tell.

In the meantime for your stats calculations, sizing up of rivals, comparing of times from last year, agonizing over how many people you can beat when you make up the Brick next weekend, and general all round viewing pleasure below you can find the results of the UBC TC Fall Classic Race Series Brick.

Matt Reeve	20:08
Vincent Lavallee	20:46
Tyler Filteau	21:39
Winston Guo	22:10
Dylan	22:23
Kellen Kjera	22:26
Victoria Gilbert	22:47
Jesse Chao	22:49
Drew Senay	22:59
Thomas Belshein	23:04
Melanie van Soeren	23:58
Reza	23:59
Johnson Jia	24:07
Dirk Haupt	24:27
Rachel Schoeler	24:42
Jen Moroz	24:52
Kywon Kim	25:52
Karin Olafson	26:00
Jen Bhatla	26:22
Stephanie	27:19
Alex	31:07
Jasmin	31:30
Laura Freeman	32:30

AquaSTORM 500m swim, 2.5km run

2010-10-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

The Aqua~~thon~~STORM
Date/Time: Oct. 17, 2010, 10am.

The rules and stakes.

As is typical with these hotly contested challenges, the aquathon or better known as aquaSTORM is a test of swim, transition, and run without any breaks in between and surviving the winstorm. There will be one big winner from each gender who will take home his or her a feast of 30 coveted UBCTC Fall Classic Racing Series points as well the opportunity for cumulative bonus participation points. Participants are fully aware of the highly anticipated bright and breezy winstorm in effect.

The challenge is done with a mass start in the outdoor pool. Separation of the various speed of swimmers are encouraged to prevent over congestion in each lanes. After completing 5 laps in the pool, they will then toss on their runners and begin the 3 loops 2.5k run. The first person to arrive at the finish line from each gender will gorge individual maximum feasting points for the challenge.

The reason.

Why you ask?

The individuals are battling each other to become the leader of the overall points in the UBCTC Fall Classic Racing Series. The title is a big deal and comes with personal fame and glory no doubt, and their names will be forever engraved on the Vincent Lavallee Cup.**

Some notables.

Vincent Lavallee lays his cards on the table in an interview that Matt Reeve has never been part of his secret alliance (ehem allegations for TTT recently at Iona in a non-drafting sanctioned event), and that he would be difficult to beat at the end. Additionally Vince’s credible reputation of being the ‘generally good looking guy’ is threatened this season due a little marathon, so much so he graciously offered to sit out the aquastorm and help out with timing and cheerleading in lieu of participating.

Eddy Wu is only focused on beating the winstorm. He will be beyond overjoyed if this comes true.

For Brendan Neaf it’s simply about winning. Shortly after the 10K TT in Iona, he uttered a quiet confidence and said to winstorm that HE HAD WON THE RACE...against himself. He beat himself, therefore he is a champion. The aquathon will be no different, winstorm or no winstorm.

Returning aquathon winner Rachael Schoeler knows only two things. 1) She can school the competition with her eyes closed. And 2) She cannot get beat by a winstorm again like last year. That would be embarrassing.

Karin Olafson isn’t worried about the winstorm. She is out to defeat Rachael whether it’s in water or on land.

Jenn Moroz believes that her doing the dishes is currying favour with her new teammates. Blocking a winstorm from getting a good swim start is key.

Victoria Gilbert on the other hand, is trying not to rock the boat, as she knows she’s on the outs. A winstorm will be nearing.

The forecast.

Bright and breezy winstorm.

The results.

We actually had seen a great race. It may not have been the best challenge we’ve ever seen but at least it was original. The winstorm had time to put on socks, glasses, visor, shirt, and of course Garmin.

The Winstorm Run Route

The damage.

Matt Reeve 17:17
Kory Seder 18:09
Rachel Schoeler 18:23
Brendan Neaf 18:46
Karin Olafson 18:56
Eddy Wu 19:03
Winstorm 19:20
Victoria Gilbert 19:24
Jen Bhatla 19:37
Melanie van Soeren 19:42
Kim Seder 20:15
Jen Moroz 20:34
Kywon Kim 21:10
Jesse Chao 21:38
Johnson Jia 22:44
Rodrigo Samayoa 23:35
Sherry Gu 23:48

**However if your name happens to be 2X defending champion Matt Reeve and you also fail to sport the golden-blue cape for the full duration of at least one event in the series, then this personal fame and glory must be relinquished to the next leader in the overall standings.

Five Hundred Meters to Equality

2010-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Men,

All too often you think you are so much better than your female counter parts. Thinking things like "I can lift heavier objects than women" or "look at me, I can ride my bike faster than my wife". Well friends, it's time for a realignment of our prejudice and our penis centric viewpoints. Our lovely lady friends prove to be strong adversaries, and there is no denying that fact.

Being raised in a family with its fair share of feminists (5: my Mum, Dad, two Sisters and myself), I was brought up to never discriminate against women for any reason. I unfalteringly hold this viewpoint in my day to day life, and so should you. However, despite the upbringing my family has given me, the school yard taught me different things. I can distinctly remember numerous times from elementary school through to high school where young men were made fun of for being beat by girls. Boys are supposed to be faster, stronger, and more skilled at all things athletic. This left me with conflicting viewpoints; to never discriminate, or to put on bravado and testosterone and assume that I would always be better than girls at athletics.

Generally speaking, I was stronger, faster, and sometimes more skilled than girls my age (although, that said, I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than many guys too!). But my first real taste of not being able to beat girls was when I joined my high school swim team. While I was one of the faster swimmers on the team, there was always at least one person faster than me, and more often than not, she was a girl. Looking back now, I can visualize the emotional progression that I went through on my high school swim team. I went from being a pubescent miner niner who thought that it was totally wrong for girls to beat me (because I would get made fun of by my friends on the basketball team), to a (slightly) more mature grade 12 who learned to love seeing the progression anyone made in the pool, male or female. As captain of the team I had to be proud and supportive of anyone who won a race, even if it meant accepting a loss to a girl. Fortunately, I think I've progressed past my high school insecurities and I now see losing to women no different than losing to men, the point is that I've lost and that there is room for me to improve.

What I love about swimming is that this situation hasn't changed since I've been in high school. When I get into the pool at triathlon club practice not only do I know that there will be people that are faster than me, but I know that they will be women, and I'm sure many of you men know that too. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I love seeing people progress and its awesome when everyone is able to progress together on an even playing field.

Men, if you have any doubt as to whether you should share my viewpoint, you need only look as far as the results from the UBC TC FC RS 500m Swim results. It will soon be evident that the majority of the men in the field got beaten by women. So, tuck your tail between your legs and give a big round of applause to the awesome women on the tri-club. There is no doubt that the women dominate the pool.

Sincerely,

Two Time UBC TC RS Winner

The results:

Kory Seder