Tri•ath•lon / trīˈaTHlən

Noun: -an athletic contest consisting of three different events, typically swimming, cycling, and running.
(Poster by David Connaughton)

 

Moving to the Okanagan in 1986, I was first introduced to the sport of triathlon as it was just starting to evolve in the Valley. It seemed interesting but as I had just begun running, adding two other activities wasn’t in the cards with young kids, a new job and lungs that had just quit smoking. 

It was twenty-two years, before I found the time to try a triathlon.  It was kind of hard not to as Penticton was home to two well-known triathlon races, the Peach Classic and the venerable Ironman Canada. So in 2008, to celebrate my retirement, I entered the Peach Classic Triathlon.  Then again in 2012 I completed a Half Ironman and to celebrate my 60^th birthday completed Ironman. See blog of August 2012.



Flash forward to the fall of 2013 and while Skyping with our JGD (Japanese Granddaughter), I learned she had been swimming and running pretty regularly.

So with a little encouragement I convinced her to add some biking and come to Penticton in the summer of 2014 and complete in the Penticton Peach Classic sprint division.


I will be frank, I didn’t really think she would follow through, but I sadly under estimated that tough little Japanese girl.

She came, she saw, she conquered.

She arrived in Vancouver a week before the race. We picked her up from the airport and drove straight back to Penticton the same day.

The next morning found her standing on the shores of Okanagan Lake ready to take her first swim. The summer had been warm and the lake was a perfect temperature. It was at that point I learned that she had never swum in a lake before.



 

Next day saw her ride up the 4 kilometre long hill that she would face at the start of the bike portion of the race.  The hill can suck the confidence right out of your legs if you let it. Mounted on Nonie’s 10 year old mountain bike, I had my doubts she could pull it off. I was proven wrong as she powered herself up the hill.

Day three was a quick 5 kilometer run along the run course which included a 1 kilometer portion of the hill used in the bike leg.  All during the run I kept explaining that she would need to do all three of these disciplines during the race.

Every good athlete spends the night before the race getting their bodies ready for the challenges of the next day. We were treated to a fabulous feed of Chuanr by Tom and Aileen, friends from China who came all the way down from Edmonton to cheer us on. Chuanr are fatty little bits of meat cooked on skewers over a barbecue. (See blog of April 2011 for more about Chuanr) 

With fatty bits of meat coursing through my veins (Takae is a vegetarian), we were ready rumble. Painting the numbers on our arms took the rest of the night.

Race day, the weather was perfect, slightly cloudy with no wind and the lake was as calm as glass. We were up a 5:30 am to prepare.  We only live a few blocks from the starting line so our warm up consisted of walking our bikes down to the transition area. 

Then laying out the various bits and pieces that are need when you have to swim, bike run, towel, helmet, shoes, socks, hat and sun screen.



 

The start of the swim can be a scary place with the triathletes all jockeying for position. There is lots of thrashing and splashing about.  The plan was to hold Takae back till all the athletes had moved out and she would not get caught up in that maelstrom. I had told he to “wait till I say GO” before she started her swim. Just as the gun sounded, I repeated my initial warning, “wait till I say GO”.  All Takae heard was GO and she charged out into the pack. She became a little over whelmed by the crowd and a little panic set in.  

 

But with some calming words from a kindly kayaker she was back on track and we poured out of the lake ready for the bike


 

My intent was to follow behind her and keep her on track with my pearls of triathlete wisdom and intelligent words of encouragement but at the bottom of the hill, the gritty little Japanese girl dropped the hammer on me and left me in her dust leaving me speechless which was good because I didn’t have any breath left for pearls of wisdom.

As I was arriving to the transition area, I passed her as she was headed up the hill on the run. In my mind, I was saying “No problem”, I’ll catch her on the run and use up those pearls of wisdom. NOT!

 

Tri·ath·lete  trīˈaTH let
Noun: - one who competes in a triathlon

It took 2 hours and 1 minute for our newest triathlete to complete the course.  I think she will be back.

 

At least I hope so and this time I won't under estimate her.