Here we are, two days out from Ironman Canada 70.3 in Whistler. It feels like summer and training for this race flew by!
Cycling
Training in a new city means discovering new cycling routes. Vancouver has a number of bike lanes and roads with less traffic that are ideal for riding, but to get any distance in at all you have to ride over a bridge. This can be a scary feat if you are afraid of heights, like I am! The Lions Gate Bridge is not my favourite to ride over, but it leads to many great rides in North and West Vancouver.
Training in a new city also means discovering new cycling friends. Barbara and I have known each other on social media for awhile now, plus we were both training for the Whistler 70.3. Luckily we were able to meet up for several rides!
My friend Robyn was training for a Gran Fondo and we went for a particularly epic ride on Canada Day, riding to Horseshoe Bay and climbing up Cypress Mountain.
The climb up Cypress is about 15K, with an average grade of around 5%. Getting to see the Olympic rings and Inukshuk at the top was a great bonus (as were the french fries).
Swimming
I managed two open water swims this summer. The Vancouver Open Water Swim Association runs practice swims at Kits Beach on Monday and Thursday evenings. On the night I swam with the group the water was particularly wavy. It was a bit of a rough introduction to ocean swimming! Oh well, challenging open water swims make us better on race day, right?
Barbara and I also swam at beautiful Sasamat Lake in Port Moody. Sasamat is a great spot for packing a picnic and making a beach day out of it!
Running
Running has been a bit of a slow plod this summer. I do feel more ready to run a half marathon now, as compared to the Scotiabank Half that I ran at the end of June!
And with that…the training is done and it is time to race on Sunday!
How is your training going this summer?
