Smiths Falls Triathlon Race Report

Been meaning to write this up for a while but I have had the time yet. It is a race report from a triathlon I did last weekend. I did write much (or any I think) race reports last year for the blog. I do write down some of my thoughts on what happened for all the races I do, so it really doesn’t take much work to turn those thoughts into something for the blog. So without further delay here is my race report for the Smiths Falls Triathlon.
Pre-Race: was fairly normal and I trained throughout the week as if I didn’t have a race on the weekend. It wasn’t a standard training week as I had to travel to Toronto for a meeting which messed up my swimming schedule. So knowing that I focused on the run during the two days I was away and managed to swim a little when I got back. On Saturday, after training in the morning, we went down to Jen’s parents, who live just outside Smiths Falls, and it poured rain as we were driving down: hopefully not a sign of things to come tomorrow. Jen and I got to go out for an early supper at a great restaurant called the Goodwood Oven. I had a great sleep on Saturday night; I fell asleep reading to Keir @ 9pm and woke up at 6am. A normal breakfast and then I got my stuff packed up and biked into the race.
Day: Sunday June 20th 2010
Here I was floating in the water waiting for the horn to sound. The start of the Smiths Falls Triathlon is a couple of minutes away and I could help but reflect on the my first ever tri which was also here (but over 6years ago), the feelings were much different. During my first tri there was a _Lot_ more nerves and fear, this time around a was really excited about racing (even the swim!). The count down started 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…. GO!
Swim 500m:

I had positioned myself pretty well, just on the outside at the front (the red dot on the map) which worked out to be a pretty direct line to the turn around buoy (marked C on the map). I started out great, and got away clean (no bumping) but about 75m in my goggles started to leak something fierce. I was faced with a decision, do I stop and fix them or keep going? Since it was a short swim (should be under 8mins of swimming) I figured I would just tough it out. By now my right goggle was almost totally full of water and the left wasn’t much better. When swimming in a triathlon one of the more important things to do is sighting your swim, this is really just looking up every now and then to make sure you are swimming towards your target in a straight fashion. Well sighting with goggles ¾ full is hard as it turns out, and I soon started to swim in a zig-zag line and ran into another competitor. That was my sign to pull out to the side and re-adjust my goggles. One of the safety kayakers asked if I was ok, and I tried to make a joke about my goggles. Not to worry I thought this will just cost me a tiny bit of time but won’t set me back to much… well it happened two more times that I need to stop and fix my goggles. I guess I rushed it each time and never got the proper seal. A little frustrating and it probably cost me about one minute to a minute and a half. Apart from the goggle mix up the swim felt good but not great, never really got into a rhythm (because of the goggles).
You exit the water and have to run about 200m up to the transition area to get on your bike. I got to my bike quickly and started to peel the rest of my wetsuit off, I heard Jenny,Keir and Isla cheering me on. Keir told me he had seen his friend Preston and I tried to think of something funny to say back to him but after sprinting up 200m the best I could come up with was “that’s great Keir”. Helmet on, race number on, Watch on and I was gone.
Bike 26km:
This year I have really been working on my biking (not running a marathon in the spring helps your biking a lot) and wanted to have a good bike split. The plan was to bike as hard as I could for the 26km, “red-line it” so to speak. The course is a nice course on open roads and it takes place early on Sunday morning so the roads are fairly quite. It took a couple of minutes to get out of town and then I was able to really open it up. The bike ride was uneventful, I did pass a lot of people and was able to keep my pacing were it needed to be for my “Red-line” level of effort. The last 10km was into a head wind on some rolling terrain so my speed did drop but my effort was still high. Here is the proof:

I was happy to get back to the transition area and managed to ride 2min faster than the last time I did race (in arguably tougher conditions).
Run (5km)
The run is usually where I make up ground, so I was pretty confident heading out onto the run. The run at Smiths Falls is all up hill for the first 2km and then basically all downhill after that. I felt good on the run but never felt great. It was very hot out by the time the run got going and there was a couple people out on the run course try to help with that: there was one guy with a super soaker water guns and another guy had a water hose spraying people who were asking for it. With a km to go I tried to push it but I never felt like I got going up to speed.

Overall:
I was pretty happy with the whole race, very happy with my bike, ok with my run and somewhat pleased with my swim. I ended up in a time of 1:11.56 which was good for 14th overall. I am pleased with that coming in I thought top 20 was possible (my previous best was 32nd). I have some good ideas of what to work on in the coming weeks. I really did enjoy the race and am looking forward to the next race. After the race was over I met up with Jenny and the kids, got Keir and Isla some bananas and bagels. We didn’t stick around very long as it was really hot and the kids were ready to leave.

Full Results Here: http://sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=46494
Full Pics here: http://www.zoomphoto.ca/eventgallerysearch/11927/112/1/

Ewan

World Cup 2010 - the U7 edition Rd 4

Italy 1- Ivory Coast 0
When it rains it pours. It was just starting to rain when we were having supper before the game. Not to worry we thought, it is just drizzling not to worry, well the rain just stronger and stronger. As per the league rules, the only time they will cancel a game is when the is lighting, so we played on in the rain.
The game itself was kinda a mess (like the kids uniforms after playing in the rain)but the kids are starting to get the concepts of passing and defense. Keir just about scored the tying game! He hit the post in the second half with a great kick!
The kids all had a blast playing in the rain and were all soaking wet when it was all said and done

Ewan

OSU U7 World Cup Rd3

Back with another World cup update!
Ivory Coast 1 - Spain 1
I actually am filing this report with second hand information as I missed the game because I was driving back from Toronto (for work). So having said that details are little sketchy from my 6yr old source!
Keir did play goalie for one half(all the kids have to play goalie at least once so we rotate them through on a weekly basis). He did let the one goal in but it didn't really seem to bother him, and he made several other saves. He even asked me if he could play goalie again next week.
I also know that Charlie (who is one of Keir's best friends) scored our goal. Other than that details were a little vague.

Tune in next week as Ivory Coast takes on the powerhouse Azzurri (Italy)

Ewan

World Cup 2010 - the U7 edition Rd 2

World Cup u7 round 2
Ivory Coast 0 - USA 2:
Well the second game of the season was last night, and Ivory Coast came up on the short end of the stick! It was actually a very good game on our part , some excellent passing (which tends to be a rarity in u7 soccer) and defending but we just got some bad luck on the USA's two goals.
Keir still seems very interested in the games, he even had had a small break up the field (all be it when he was supposed to be playing defence, as a side note: I have come to find out the positions in u7 soccer are really just a suggestions or better yet a starting point for the kids as they tend to "clump" up around the ball).
We even had our first soccer scar, when Keir fell down in one of the "clumps" and was accidentally stepped on in the melee!
Next week we take on World Cup favorites Spain!!!!!

Ewan

We do have a daughter as well

Just so you don't think there is too much Keir on this blog ... here is a couple of photos of Isla

More teeth Photos

I just posted the last photo really quick on thursday morning of Keir's missing teeth. Now that I have a little more time here is a little more info. I would say that Keir has been very late in loosing his teeth, I think most of his friends in his class have lost at least one tooth. Keir's teeth are very closely spaced, so we always thought that was the reason it was taking so long for his teeth to loosen. A couple of weeks we noticed that one of his lower front teeth was a little loose. Then about a week ago we notice his adult tooth coming in _behind_ his baby teeth. This meant a visit to the Dentist. Here is what the teeth looked like. I guess usually the roots of the old teeth get broken up by the incoming teeth, but because there was so little space, Keir's teeth are so closely spaced the roots only got have broken up.

This is the best part, here is Keir's note to the Tooth Fairy. Apparently you write letters to the Tooth Fairy outlining what you would like in exchange for the first teeth you loose!


This is smiling Keir after he got back, lip still swollen from the freezing.



That is all for now

Ewan

two down....

Pics

Just going through some of the photos on the memory cards and found this one from last weekend (Victoria Day Holiday), it embodies what I think of when I think of the cottage.

I also found this one of Keir being silly:

World Cup 2010 - the U7 edition

World Cup 2010 - the U7 edition
So Keir will start soccer tonight. This is the third year he will be playing soccer. So far his team names have been the Blue Jays, the Orange Dragons. His team shirts colours were... you guessed it Blue and Orange.
This year the local soccer organization has decided to tie into the World Cup and name the teams after the teams competing in the actual World Cup. So Keir's team is representing Ivory Coast. Stay tuned to see if Ivory Coast can bring home the Cup!!!
As a side note: I am an assistant coach on the team, which should be an interesting experience: trying to get a bunch of 6-7yr old boys to direct their collective energies at the soccer ball and not the "inset name of whatever shinny object here". Hey if we can just make sure they get their treats after the game I think _they_ will think we are doing a great job.:-)

Edit: updating this for the final score for all you people who have the u7 world cup pool ;-) the final score was Argentina 1 Ivory Coast 1.

Ewan

Kids say the funniest things part2

as requested by my mom here is another installment of Kids Say the Funniest Things:

Scene: My mom was watching Isla on Wednesday, and they were getting ready to go out and my mom asked Isla if she ready. Isla's response was:"Let's Rock and Roll!"

I am affraid I might be responsible for imparting that pharse to my daughter

btw: the photo is not Isla, it is just what I came up with when I googled "Let's Rock and Roll"
Ewan

Happy Easter!

This past weekend was Easter weekend, which meant I got a four day weekend and Keir also had the friday and monday off school. We are having unusually warm weather here, I think it got close to 30 on Friday!!! We had a great weekend with lots of Chocolate of course!
On sunday we were at Jen's parents place and were playing around with some bubbles. It was a really windy day so the bubbles would blow themselves just by holding the bubble wand up to the wind.
Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the bubbles:
Isla and Jen blowing the bubbles (and yes Isla is in a "Fancy Nancy" too-too):

The kids wanted to chase the bubbles, here is Keir in full flight after the bubbles:


And here is a close up of Keir chasing the bubbles,I like to focus in his eyes:


Off to get more chocolate!
Ewan

Kids say the funniest things

This is another installment in the "Kids say the funniest things" posts.
I went to wake Keir up this morning and he said: "I feel like i am made of metal" when I asked why, he answered" Because I am so tired and stiff"

Stay tuned for more funny quotes

Ewan

This past week was March Break for Keir, which means he had the whole week off school. I was able to take Tuesday and Thursday of work. On Tuesday Keir and I went skiing at Camp Fortune (where I did the majority of my skiing), we had a special guest join us... Uncle Neal!
Neal took a bunch of photos and some videos
Here is the first of a couple more that I will post. IT is Keir first solo skiing and wipe out!

Take care
Ewan

Happy Birthday to Me!

So yesterday was my birthday, I am "aging up" to the next age group for Triathlon Races 35-39!
I got some wonderful cards from my children (and Jen). My parents came over for some cake, the video is the delivery said cake :-)

GOLD

-SKIING-

What a blast, as some of you may know I have done a _LOT_ of skiing in my life, but today was the MOST fun I have ever had on skis. I took skiing at Calabogie Peaks which is a little over an hour away. Keir's friends Peter and Charlie were going skiing with their family and we were invited along. The day started with a 1hr private lesson and then we skied together for the rest of the day. By the end of his hour long lesson Keir was getting the hang of things and was actually even turning!
Turning



on the magic carpet


After his lesson we had a lunch then it was back on to the hill with Peter, I put my skis on and went skiing with Keir and Peter
Riding the carpet:

Peter up further:

After a couple runs on the small hill it was up to the big lift and the big hill
Waiting in line for the lift:

Riding on the lift


Peter and Keir on the hill

The view from the top of the mountain

Deeeeeeeelicious!

This is how Isla eats cupcakes. I use the word eat loosely here!
And yes that is Keir running around in the background pretending to be a Jedi!

Ewan

Xmas 2009

We had a wonderful Xmas 2009 with lots of presents for the kids and some "relaxing" for the parents :-)
A couple of pics from Xmas
Isla was a little sick at the start of the holidays just a little cold but she decided she needed a bandaid to fix her cold!

Isla was priceless when she was opening her gifts, she kept saying "FOR MEEEEE!!!!"

Keir had a lego Xmas:


This is what my Xmas morning looked like, lots of lego construction

Notice a pattern, no one was spared from Lego duty


Hope everyone had a great Xmas and the New Year is treating you well

Ewan

Tweet Tweet

OK, you may now notice there is a little twitter gadget on the left <<<
Warning Twitter is very addictive and a time suck, but fun non the less :-)
I can't promise a ton of tweets but I will post here and there.
username is @ewanhardie
Anyone else on twitter? Shoot me a tweet!

Ewan

Keir's sayings

There is that saying: Kids say the darnest things. Well here is one from Keir.

I was driving Keir back from swimming and a mail truck pull up beside us at the lights. Keir said:

"All mail truck go to Alaska"

Not sure where that came from, but I had to record it :-)

Ewan