Nice Ass!!

Heya,

Workouts are still going well. I had an awsome ride on tuesday with Greg/Trevor/Mark/Iona, and last but not least Chantal. It was a smaller grp from what I hear, it's the first time I've rode with them. I think I'll make it a regular thing since my tues/thurs evening swims are done. We rode to Chochrane, then down the 22, over the trans can, back in on the next highway I forget what it is. I think we did like 3 harder sessions of about 10-15 minutes. I hurt myself really hard each time to try to keep up with the Masters(Greg,Trevor), but each time they rode just a bit out of reach. It's funny cause if they'd dropped me any more convincingly I would have put less effort into it, but they were oh soooo close so I rode my ass off to keep up. lol What a solid effort, I loved it.

Yesterday was interesting. I got home and really wanted a nap so I decided on taking the nap instead of doing my longish run. I went for the swim at the Talisman center for 9:30 so I could get in for the cheaper 5 bucks. I went for the long course training tank although I dislike long course, I'm stubborn thinking I need it more for the OW swimming. The workout was 8x300, and I suffered. I won't go into details except that my swim didn't go that well, I had to stop at times and only managed 4 reps before I broke out the pull bouy, course then I was fine to do them according to plan (IG plan that is). I gotta say I really hate it when people feel they need to come to the training tank to make out, grind hips, etc. It really iritates me swimming along coming to the wall, look over to breathe and seeing two pairs of hips stuck together. For the love of.... FIND SOME OTHER PLACE TO MAKE OUT!!! It's not the first time that's happened, sometimes the guards will come over and ask them to leave. Maybe I should bring Lisa with and we can compare notes?!?!!?

I got home about 11ish and called lisa to say goodnight and headed out for my long run. I didn't know for sure how this would go, my legs were sore from tuesday's hard ride. But I thought if I just start out for 30 minutes and I can quit after that if it doesn't go well. I love running at night, it's sooo peaceful. So I started out at about 11:30, I started doing loops around this park near by. I didn't count laps and kinda got into a zone. Then all of a sudden I hear this noise as all the sprinklers turn on. I wasn't in the way, but as I got on the far side the sprinklers there were crossing the path so I had to find some other place to run. So I decided to do another 4 mile loop I frequently run. This would give me the right amount of time to finish up the 1.5 hour run. My legs felt pretty good actually, hardly any soreness. I ran past this girl and what I presume was her bf. She was yapping on the phone and as I pass she stops her conversation to yell "Nice ASS" to me. I never have a good come back right then so I thank her and continue on. Not sure if she was bein sarcastic or genuine, her ass was bigger than mine. It did seem like sarcasm, or maybe that's why she yelled, to make her feel better about herself. Oh well hopefully she'll see the light some day and start up some exercise before it's toooooooooooooo late, lol. She was also younger then me, I was thinkin to myself just you wait girl till your metabolism slows down like mine. We'll see who has the last laugh then. muah ha ha ha. Like I said, I think of all the comebacks later on. It's probably better that way, keep myself out of trouble. I finished up the run and went to bed. I was able to sleep right away which was nice, somtimes I have trouble after a run to try to relax. Today is a hills day in Cochrane, wooopie!

WTB training partner who doesn't flat repeatedly on training rides

Another great weekend of training has come and gone. Yesterday Curtis and I had quite an adventuresome day,.... long day. We decided to hit up the trans Canada highway east of town. This is my stomping grounds and my fav. road. I know it sounds weird, flat, straight, extra traffic must be boring right? You would think that, I do like climbing, but I also love to put the head down and gooooo. This highway now is pretty smooth now that they fixed the last crappy part coming back into chestermere.

So anyways we headed out and no sooner had we gotten out of town and Curtis's bike decided to flat, so we stopped and fixed it. Both in good spirits still we continued on. A older couple were riding along collecting cans and stuff and putting it into their trailer stopped to talk to us. They were going the opposite way against traffic and let us know exactly how many crazy drivers there were and this was the reason that they were on the wrong side of the road. I assured them that we were well aware and would be careful thank you and have a good day, as we sped off. The wind was in our faces going out and we got to Strathmore alright, stopped for fuel and continued on. The road after that has some rolling hills, not completely flat. We got to the corner where the road turns south and headed back. I had gone a bit ahead and headed down the big hill before strathmore, turned around and there was no Curtis. Hmmm had I descended the hill that quickly??? Where was he? So after a short wait I got on the other side of the road and headed back into the wind, up the long hill(I think it's about a 3k climb, not steep, but against the wind so challenging). Got to the top and still no Curtis, so I kept going over some more rolling hills till I saw him fixing flat #2. Oh well he had it finished by the time I got there, he's getting faster at that. So we got going again, I got near the big hill and kept looking back to make sure he was still there. I wasn't going to descend that hill with out him on my tail. So I head down, get to the bottom and start the next climb, turn around and he's gone!?!?!?!? I'm like, but he was right there! So I turn around and head back, this time on the same side, against traffic. Wow with the big trucks wind and the head wind they nearly knocked me over. Only half way up the hill, into the wind and I met up with Curtis assuming the position again(fixing his tire in the ditch). This time he was out of tubes so I got mine out and helped change his flat. This time I used a C02 Cartridge to fill it up. It works really nicely, I think I impressed him with my handy work. :D I got some extra hill climbing in, not by choice but what the hey. I was mighty impressed, Curtis kept his cool. We took some extra time to examine his tire and found nothing. hmmmm oh well that was the last spare, one more and I'll be geting the van.

So we got back into Strathmore, re-fueled(I needed it I was out of fluid and really thirsty). Curtis phoned home telling his family that he'd be a lil longer and that we were ok. So we started the last leg of our journey home. I think by this time he was getting a bit paranoid and kept wondering when the next flat would happen. Well I'm happy to say it never did, we made it to Chestermere and finally home. We had a nice tail wind so we could cruise at a steady pace. Thank you MN I appreciate you not changing the wind direction on us. One weird thing that kinda creeped me out. Some couple in a half ton decided to trail us from Chestermere all the way into Calgary with their hazards on. Really strange, who does this??? At first I was wondering if they were going to hit us, or if they really thought they couldn't get around us? They had their hazards on and didn't look anxious so I figured they weren't going to hurt us. Later on it dawned on me that it probably was this old couple we met on bikes. I guess they thought the need to escort us back into Calgary. At first I was mad and wanted to tell them off, later on I realized they just thought they were helping and I guess it was nice of them. There was a really wide shoulder, not much need for it, but w/e good intentions so they're alright in my books. :)

After the bike we went out for our brick run. We had been out there for 6.5 hours plus so even though it was a relatively short ride the time in the sun was long. I was surprised though, my legs were baked, but I ran really well. Curtis too, was hurting but helped keep a solid steady pace. I challenged him by taking him on my really hilly course, it ended up being a bit longer like 45-50 minutes, but we both were up for the challenge and when we finished we felt like a million bucks. Great long training day 7+ hours in the sun and we were both still upright and smiling. Some great confidence! Good job Curtis!

Today was really tough getting out of bed, I went out late with some friends last night. There are only so many times that you can excuse yourself with some "I gotta get this training in", or "I'm tired from all the training" excuse before you'll start to loose them right??? So I went, had a few beers, which made it rough getting up cause I had trouble sleeping.

Curtis called and we headed down to the Y for a swim. Neither of us felt too motivated but we stuck to the plan and got the warmup, main set, then promptly quit. LOL Didn't feel like doing anything more after that. I went home, scarfed some food down and headed out on the bike ride. Today's bike was to be a 2 hour ride with some 5x 10min hard. Woooooo I knew I'd have to dig deep again to do this. My legs were fatigued from yesterday. Oh well I'd see what I could do. I got a nice warmup in, felt pretty good and started the first 10 min hard section. I took the bike canal path going to Chestermere today. I used to love this path and hadn't ridden it for awhile. Another beautiful day, wow, I love summer. Thanks again MN, you rock. I wore my cda jersey for the second day in a row. I figured it might help with some good vibes for Susi as this was her IM day. The jersey stank, but hey I was riding alone so it wasn't bothering anyone but myself. I took on my 10 minute intervals hard, very hard. Most of them I kept my hr at 150 or higher, I think I even saw 156 at one point. The harder I rode the more snot and sweat collected between my nose and mouth. I'm pretty sure on that 156bpm rep I had a full on river of snot/sweat running down my face. ewwwwwwwwww What an awsome effort, snot and all I didn't mind. I know my biking will take on a whole new level this year. Thanks Greg, this guy's gonna rock the bike!! Time to rock the bed(not literally), night all,

Darryl

Greg, you don't even need to do Kona

Just pony up the 25G to buy this guy's friggen medal.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Vintage-1988-Hawaii-Ironman-Triathlon-Finishers-Medal_W0QQitemZ220247507452QQihZ012QQcategoryZ2918QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Seriously, I'll be surprised if he gets a bid. I know I know, some people may have lots of money to give away, but for a collection?? The only way I could see it is if someone did that year's race and lost theirs. But then again for 25G just get in shape and do it again!! Plus the fact that this guy is selling his, so shameful, obviously doesn't get what it all means. It's sad... what do you guys think? I saw it on his blog too, he's CANADIAN!!

In other news I'm doing great after the race, went for a 2 hour ride the day after and felt good. Swims were ok, ok for swims that is. I got another OW swim in, so that's good. Had a absolutely awsome bike ride on wednesday, to strathmore and back and nearly broke my time. Don't worry greg I only pushed it a bit on the way back, going out it was all aerobic(1:12-45k) I SWEAR IT WAS AEROBIC. There was no wind and it's all flat except for rollers, but rollers you can aero bar over. On the way back I pushed a bit cause I wanted to break the 2:30 - 90k mark and I got hit by a huge cross wind(there was a storm blowing in) so I didn't quite make it. 2:34 with like 5-6 lights total. Still awsome, I wish I could do that in stony(with the transitions) but no traffic lights and a bit more effort of course.

Good luck to Kelsey and Keith tomorrow, two newbs doing their first triathlon/half IM. It looks like a great day for racing, I hope you guys do well. I'm doing a med-long ride on sat. Then hard 2 hour bike sun with runs after both? No I think run after the sat bike and swim sunday. Everyone have a good weekend. Cheers,

Darryl

Oh almost forgot I mentioned in my RR that I felt I got tired too quickly swimming. After the last OW swim I really think my wetsuit is too tight in the shoulders. I went to the pool after and right away noticed the extra shoulder soreness. I never get shoulder soreness in the pool like that. I also was concentrating on exhaling all the air under water, really good to work on, but I don't think it's my problem. So maybe with all the extra swimming, and maybe the weights over winter?? my shoulders are too big for my wetsuit? LOL Sounds dumb I know, but I'm not heavier then last year, well only a couple pounds behind which I will trim off and then some before IMC. So I don know, my coach suggested doing some sort of work out in the pool with my wetsuit on to compare muscle soreness, cause swimming in OW is quite dif. ie no walls to rest at. I can't afford a new wetsuit, so not saying I'll change anything, just some thoughts. One thing is for sure I've gone from feeling confident on the swim to scared. Don't worry, I always race better when I'm fearful, I'll def. be starting GWN off easier. Just some thoughts, not sure what I'll do yet if anything. Now cheers, and have a good weekend,

Darryl

Results

27 2:33:56 DARRYL Penner Calgary 10/37 Men 30-39 56 41 29:28 1:58 23 1:17:46 30.9 25 46:42 4:41

Arbour Lake Oly RR

Race Morning:

Didn't get much sleep this night. Somthing to do with a race and coffee the day before. Well not the race itself just the thought of doing one the following day that kept me up. I think I may have gotten less sleep than before IM last year. Oh well it didn't bother me much, sleep is overrated, as long as it doesn't become a habit(loosing it more then one night in succession). I had some breakfast and got all the gear together. Lisa came over so she could come cheer and take some pictures. Thanks Lisa! The weather was pretty good, figured it might be a bit chilly at first on the bike, but perfect for a good run. The water had warmed up to a balmy 14 degrees. So we got on site and got the final prep done. I set up the transition, got the chip, quick visit with Jenna's poop fairy, and got the wetsuit on.

Swim:

Took a quick dip in the water just to get used to it and lined up on the left side with the faster guys. Big mistake, I was all confident I would have a fast swim, but it wasn't to be. I had a fine start, no major bumping into people. The pace seemed ok, fast but I thought it would be alright. By the finish of lap one though things started to fall apart. Swimming straight wasn't a problem and the water was calm, but I just couldn't relax after my fast start. I tryed hard to relax and to concentrate on long smooth strokes, even telling myself to forget the speed just be smoooth didn't help. It's like a slippery slope once you start, by the end of lap 2 I was done and had no power left in my arms. With one lap to go, I felt like a beached whale, helpless and being passed numerous times. Each time I tryed to stay on their feet but I couldn't. lol I was so out of breath I started drinking water, lots of it, I even breathed some into my lungs. Have you ever done this? It's not pleasant and almost impossible to keep swimming. Oh well the boat ramp was now insight and I think I felt exactly like Julie, all the extra time spent swimming..... what a waste!!!

T1:

Finally I was able to get my feet on solid ground again. Running up the ramp I quickly got my wetsuit undone. It was a bit of a run to the transition but I didn't mind. The transition wasn't too bad, I didn't put on any extra clothes(had arm warmers on under the suit). I did however nearly fall over when putting on the cycling shoes. Funny how the dizziness only hit me while putting on the shoes. With everything on finally I grabbed the bike and ran out of transition to the road, another longer run.

Bike:

Getting under way on the bike wasn't too bad, a little slower then I wanted, but with the laboured swim my hr was still in the "heart exploding" zone. I made two wrong turns on the bike, it didn't loose me too much time, just momentum really maybe a min and a half total. It also took me quite a while to warm up and get the cycling legs going. This was no surprise to me, I remembered this well from my last Oly like 9 years ago. I came by Leslie at some point walking, I felt bad I didn't say anything. I had no spare so I couldn't have helped her, I think I was still hurting quite a bit, too much to say anything though?? Later on around lap 2-3 I also passed Curtis, he was on the left side for a bit blocking me. grrrrrrrr lol Then I hit lap 3 and started to feel good, finally!! Lap 4 was my best by far and here is where I proceeded to drop all of the guys I was riding with. You know what I mean, the people you continually pass, then they pass you, then you pass them. ENOUGH!!! Good bye!! So the last 15km were my best and then I hit transition. I wished I could keep going, I'm just not meant to race these short 40k TTs. lol Oh well I got to end really strong and feel good coming into transition.

T2:

Reading what I wrote I think I said I wayyyyy too many times. I am sorry I can't help it I I I I, aughhhh! It's probably a good thing you can't feel your feet coming in, it seriously feels like running on stumps, but with the possible gravel on the pavement, like I said, prolly for my own good. There is the possibility of stubbing a toe, but oh well I made it to the rack and threw the bike up, put socks on, shoes then ran out. Thank goodness I got the run course right.

Run:

Like the bike it took awhile to feel good. I started out ok, definatly not fast. The first part of the run is a steady climb. Honestly half the run loop is going up, the other half down times 4. I found myself counting hills vs laps since my virtual lap end was at the top of the hill. It helped keep it in perspective. By lap 3 the running legs were back and they were starting to pull in some of those runners that inched away earlier. Especially up the hill(hills are generally a strength, then I get passed on the downhills). I kept my eye open for Curtis, didn't have a clue if he was behind me or in front. When I did finally see him he looked like he was absolutely flying!!! It was on the short out and back at the top of the hill. Seriously he yelled out my name, I think it was my 3rd lap, his 1st or 2nd and he looked so strong. My first thought was "shit, he's going to come by me like I'm standing still". So I waited and waited, well ran while I waited, I tryed to pick it up but I was so sure he was coming I even was thinking of some encouraging words to say to him. I made it back down to transition and I thought hmmmm he was only maybe 100 meters behind me, my pace must have picked up??? So up the hill for the last time, I kept telling myself 3 hills to go, now 2, and finally one last hill, just make it up to the top and you can cruise into the finish. I pushed hard and passed a pile of people on the last ascent. It felt really good to finish the race strong and finish another leg of the race where my last lap was my fastest. Again onto the out and back and saw Curtis at about the same spot, hmmmm I guess we're running the same pace? This time he couldn't say anything either, he must be hurting too. I pushed the final down hill as fast as I could.

Finish and some thoughts:

It's nice to cross the finish line knowing you left it all out there. Thanks to Curtis for pushing me so hard on the run, we had very similar run times. As I've said before it's so cool to race with friends, I always look forward to seeing them during the race, doesn't matter if they're behind or in front. Thanks to Chad, Leslie(sorry your race ended prematurely), Curtis's family, Swim club friend(I forget her name) and of course Lisa for all the cheers, they help so much and I really appreciate them. I had a bad swim, but was able to turn it around, recover on the bike, finish strong, then also finish up the run strongly. I wasn't able to take much fluid in during the race, I was so close to puking the whole time. I think it was the lake water that I drank that didn't sit well in my tummy, however it may have helped keep me hydrated? LOL Oh well it was a solid training race, ideally I woulda liked to go faster, but it was a tough course, I was happy with the effort and my endurance is really coming around. Especially the fact that I had next to no soreness the next day means my body is recovering really quick. Here's some pics Lisa took from the day. Some of them are blurry cause I was going so fast. :P

Oly Rookie

Hey there,

I'm ready to go, all systems CHECK!! I don't think I've ever been this prepared for an olympic distance. I went along with Curtis and Tina as they went for the transition practice, then Curtis and I rode the course again. We know the bike course really well now and it'll be a huge advantage since there are a bunch of corners in the res. areas. Some descents even have 90 degree corners at the bottom. The competitive side of me tested them a bit, don't worry I'll be safe, but I do want to take them wide and fast(unless of course I'm coming up on a slower rider). We know the run course as well, at first glance the hills seem pretty bad but they aren't. They'll def. hurt with tired legs on the fourth lap, but what the hey it's a race. They aren't supposed to be easy even if it's a C race.

Part of me tells myself that this race means nothing to me, it's simply a hard training effort. Another part of me still has expectations though, it's still a race right??? The gun goes off and someone hits a switch inside of you that tells you to GOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'd love to go out there and get a PR, but honestly I don't think I have a chance. You see we have flat terrain in Manitoba and most of our courses were simply one out and back. None of this riding along streets, take this turn, then ride a bit, take that turn, up a hill down a hill then make a hard right, etc. Oh well everyone has to do the same, in a way it'll be fun, not a boring "put your head down and go" type of race. Reminds me of a crit race, you could use a road bike in the race with so few straight aways.

The water will prolly be around 12 degrees, air around that too by the time my heat starts. The sun will be out so I'll prolly just go with a tri singlet and arm warmers. I'll keep a long sleeve there just in case I change my mind after the swim. It's a long run to the bikes so I might do some cartwheels or roll around on the grass to get warm. I really don't want to fiddle around with clothes too much since I know the hands will be completely numb.

My goals;

No Trevor I won't be going sub 2. I would LOVE to say I've done that but I really doubt I could even get that time if I was allowed to do the swim, bike, run dif days. I'm guessing I'll be in the 2:20-2:30 range(I know you were kidding). I'm guessing swim will be 25-28?, bike really no idea but would like 1:10-1:20? and run as long as I'm in the 40s, 40-50. So what does that give me, 2:15-2:38? hee hee that's quite a big gap there, but that gives me a big cushion, hopefully I won't have to add time to the back end. ;) It's been so long since I've done one of these so I'm kind of a newbie.

The race plan will be to go ez on the first lap of the swim, concentrate on long strokes and stay relaxed, then try to pick it up on the second IF I feel I can. I don't want to get to tired on the swim because I know I'll start to zig zag(swim extra), plus if I'm anerobic coming into transition I'll take longer there.

For the bike I know it takes me a bit to get biking legs after the swim so I may need a couple laps to feel strong. I'm not going to wear a hr monitor cause of all the hills/crit style. so I'll have to go on feeling, gonna go as hard as I can minus one gear(mental gear not bike gear). I hope to be around 145-150 bpm, I should know where that is, but then again I'll never know for sure. :P Like I said to Greg yesterday I might not want to know what the numbers are on the fourth lap up the last hill.

The run, well what can I say, I'll just do what ever I can. There's not much you can do after a hard TT but run on what's left. Hopefully I'll have enough to be able to push the hill and relax on the down hills to recover for the next lap/hill.

It'll be fun, I hope I do well and cross the finish line feeling like I laid it all out there, yet paced myself evenly. Good luck to everyone else out there racing tomorrow, I hope you get good weather and that things go well for ya.

Sportsmanship

Cool picture, it was taken at 2008 worlds in Vancouver last weekend.