Like a pig at a luau

Up at 3:30 a.m.

There is something inherently wrong with getting up at 3:30 a.m. What the hell am I thinking?

I guess on a big race day, you just want to keep everything normal and if it takes you about 45 minutes to drive to Osoyoos from Pentiction... then 3:30 it is.

I managed to get out of the house and on the road by 4:40 and had only one minor delay when a deer tried to stare me down from the middle of the road in O.K. Falls.... the bugger won. I was leaning on the horn and he stood his ground and brought the truck to a stand-still in the middle of the highway... Balls as big a church bells.... I tell ya!

I had already set the bike up in the transition area yesterday, so this morning was more a matter of getting all the little things from the counter (see yesterday's post for a photo of all the crap required to race) and put them in the spots they belong.

After everything had found its place and I had returned the pump and other accoutrements back to my truck, I applied the last layer of chamois cremé with a spatula and donned my wetsuit.

The race was in two waves, men at 7:00 and women at 7:10. I personally wanted to go with the women, as they ted to be kinder and gentler in the water than the guys, but the officials would have none of it.

Someone strangled and cat and me and 300 of my blue capped weekend warriors were off into the weeds..... (no evening removal here like in St. Malo)..... straight into the milfoil like seals looking for food in a bed of kelp. Round and round we go.... actually... there is nothing round about it... more like Triangle and Triangle we go...... the unique thing about this swim is that you get out of the water as you end your first leg and run though a chute to commence the start of your second leg..... cool...no?

The bike was wicked..... stubble jumpers would have a hard time envisioning the Richter Pass climb, but let me tell you it is like riding you bike straight up into heaven.... well ...... if heaven was a paved road that radiated heat at about 45˚C with not so much a butterfly for shade and never seemed to end and...... just when it does give you a bit of a decent you start back climbing at an increased pitch for another 2k. This ascent/ descent thing goes on for about 30k until you make your way down Barcello road and into the city of Cawston.

By now we had a bit of headwind and it did served the same effect of riding your trainer in a sauna with a small AA battery powered fan from the dollar store to cool you down.

Right turn and back to Osoyoos on over all of the terrain that you had previously sumitted or plummeted..... down. The only problem is that the climb back up Richter is seemingly longer that the descent you followed to earn it. Now what did we learn from the Tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race, or if you got the legs giv-er hell and attack that hill.

The descent into the city can only be described as something really worth grinning about. 70K and hour for about 10k. WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO. Get as aero as you can and hang on. What took you 40 minutes to climb, takes you mere seconds to descend. I think I still have bugs in my teeth, as my cheshire grin acted like the grill on the front of a Mac truck.

Into transition with bugs caught in my teeth and a deer hoof hanging limply form the aero bars - hey this morning was one thing, during the race, I don't stop for anything!

Quick change into my super suit.... AKA a quick change from to tri-shorts from the bike shorts I had swam in and completed the bike course with and off to the half marathon. The course is a two loop format where you run past the finish line three times before you are actually allowed to run down the chute.

Leaving transition for the run.

The Giant rests and gets water and oats after a great ride.

Out onto the course... here are some photos as I ran past my family at the finish... three times.

Go 89!

Don't I look like the epitome of fun?

Check out my son, Blake with the hi-5.

Here Blake - now in Blue hat says...... "who was that guy in the super-suit?"

Now no account of my day would be complete without some conversation about the heat. If you were to spend some time on the net, you would find that Osoyoos often takes the "Hot spot" in Canada each day in the summer. The desert mountains trap in heat like a pig at a luau.

During the bike and into the run the humidex hit the low 40's... yes that's right folks... +40˚C. As I navigated the run, I came across these kids with water cannons spraying down people.... they were my new best friends. I grabbed sponges at every aid station and doused myself, hoping to extinguish the heat that was exuding from my very core..... not to mention that all of this takes place along side the lake with kiddies and parents cavorting without any due care and attention to the misery that I was grinding through.... meanies!

As I rounded that last turn I knew I had achieved my goal and done this crazy thing sub 6 and that made my day and as I sit here and try to tell you all how that felt, I assure you that it is the english language that falls short to truly describe this feeling of pure delirium.

The rest is a blur..... the director the the event personally hanging my medal on me, throngs of fans screaming my name, autographs, baby kissing, and hand shakes all around..... someone threw me an ice cold Dr. Pepper and I dove back into the lake that gave birth to this strange event some 5 hours ago in an attempt to quell the raging Inferno emulating from my: head, neck, chest, legs and feet.

No matter what....... no matter what you take away from this.... no matter what you may think....I took a P.R today and that rocks! ..... did you expect anything less?