Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sylvan Lake Half Ironman and Heart of the Rockies Olympic Triathlon

Good luck to my athletes racing this weekend:

Ryan Murray- Sylvan Lake Ironman. Ryan's last kick at a triathlon for the year before he sets his sail to becoming a married man.

James Schneider and Dan Barker- Heart of the Rockies Olympic Triathlon. The old boy's weekend to be single and compete in a Triathlon. Okay guys easy on the wine! Seriously, this is a tune-up race for these guys as they continue their preparation for Ironman Canada.

The rest of us are training. I plan on doing a bit of a hike on Saturday with Scott up Middle Sister in preparation for a hike up Mt. Temple with Josh on the following weekend. Hikes! Bears! Must find my jingle bells!

Good luck to my friend Kyle Marcotte at Sylvan Lake HIM as well. Good tune-up for Ironman Canada. Stick to the lite beer!


Jason Lapierre
- One year ago today Jay left us.

Please take a moment today to remember Jay and all the gifts and memories he left behind.


"The more I ache the better I feel. Pain is just weakness leaving the body".

4 comments:

Sandra Yaworski said...

Ryan rocked the house at Sylvan Half Ironman, finishing fourth overall and collecting $500 enroute. Nice! Ryan said that this race was the highlight of his triathlon career with all aspects of the race coming together. Great swim, fantasic bike and super run. Nutrition was perfect as well. I am recalling from memory his splits but I think they went like this: 29 min swim, 2:29 bike and 1:26 run. Results are not posted but this is my recollection from his voicemail.

Nice work Ryan! I am so darn proud and happy. You commitment and work paid off! I am glad that I was a part of your success!

Chewy said...

wow...Congratulations Ryan!!!

Anonymous said...

Ryan's Race report:

The Sylvan Lake Half Ironman was the last race I had planned for the summer, so not only did I want to finish the season on a positive note, but I also wanted to avenge my dismal running performance at Oliver. Also, I was nervous/excited because everything I was putting into my body before and during the race was different than what I had done before. So, after 11/2 bagels, a banana and a carb drink I headed for the transition area to set up my spot. The swim was relaxed. It wasn't a fast swim (29 minutes) based on my prior results, but it was the first time I did not get cramps in the water and I came out fresh and ready to hit the bike course. The transition was relaxed and I took my time. There was no stress or attempts to try and get out of transition as fast as possible. I got out when I was ready. The bike felt great. The first 40km was 62mins, which is the fastest I've ever done a 40km time trial and the second 40 was around 64mins. Thanks Frank for the wheels. I might just keep them.
People had told me this course had a lot of rollers, but I feel they misrepresented it. There weren't so many rollers as four to five "walls" placed strategically all in the last half of the course. Not too mention from 75km to 85 km was all up hill. Regardless, I kept my cadence up and tucked as best I could on the way down the other sides of the hills. My bike time was around 2hrs29mins with my speedometer reading 93kms when it was all said and done. The transition from bike to run was quick and painless. As I began my run I heard the announcer sat I was in fifth position, which got me pumped because I knew then I was in the money if I could hold onto my spot. The first km was quick in sub 4mins but I was quickly forced to slow it down when the course ventured into a rolling, windy single track path. As frustrating as it was trying to watch my step all the time, it took my mind off of the remaining 16km.
The run was also hilly with three-four good sized hills we had to tackle once we were out of the trees and back on the road. But, my legs and joints felt great so I continued on, passing Jared Green around 8kms and taking fourth spot. Tony Smith, came up beside me on his bike and gave me some great words of encouragement. He's seen me train over the past few years and has raced against me a number of times, so he understood this was an exciting race for me and could see I was in a good spot. If you're reading this Tony, thanks for sticking around on your bike for 4-5 minutes and cheering me on. It helped. The last few kms went pretty fast and my watch had me cross the finish line with a 1hr26min half marathon. My race time was 4hrs25min.
It was a great way to finish off my season with a sub 4hr30min race and a sub 90min run. I couldn't me happier. Thanks Sandra for all your coaching and guidance and the rest of our group for being great training partners. I wouldn't have made it without you guys. We'll see you around and good luck to everyone on the rest of the season!      
Ryan Murray

Anonymous said...

Hi Sandra,
 
Just wanted to update you on the Invermere race.  The race went well, it was the toughest course I have ever done though!  My swim was excellent, I went 19:56 and was out 3rd overall (male/female), first female.  The bike course was very challenging and hilly - there were basically no flat parts and we had a headwind the whole way out for the out and back course.  My time was slower - 1:18 - which, however, included both transition times in it.  They did not use chip timing, either - it was velcro wrist bands, very old school.
 
I was actually still the lead female after the bike and when the run started.  My legs felt trashed and dead right off the bat, so I had a feeling I was not going to have a stellar run.  The run was the hardest course I've ever done, there was a steep hill during the first few 100 meters, and I got passed by the 2nd place female on it, who was just flying by as she is a super-fast runner (her run time was 11 mins faster than mine!).   The rest of the run was really hilly - there was a hill that was 8% grade and was more than a km long! I actually had to walk for a bit halfway up that hill.  I felt terrible the entire run, getting that sharp, stabbing stitch in my right ribs that I get on occasion and struggle to run through.  Anyway, I was able to hold onto 2nd place overall with that awful run - and ended up first in my age group, so I was really happy with that.  My time was 2:29 which I was extremely happy with on such a hard course.  The results stated my time at 2:30, though, which is incorrect as the clock said 2:29.40 when I finished.  Must have been an issue with the ancient timing system they utilized. 
 
My run time was 52 something, which is quite poor, but when you think about it actually not bad considering how I felt and considering that I walked several times.  I hate giving up and letting in to walking, but I felt really crappy during that run and at no point felt fresh.  I didn't rest or taper going into the race, and I really noticed it in my legs in both the bike and the run.  If I had known how hard the course was going to be, I would have rested/tapered a bit more.  Overall, I am happy with the result and have decided to take it easy this week. 

Lisa Graham