Elements of Erin 337

Whistler here welcome.  The SAA is coming to town to swim, bike and run this weekend.  

I have been thinking about this race for over a week now.  It was a tough one and I had not expected that.  Not that a 1/2 IM is ever easy, but I felt prepared and ready to race.  I have done this one before and remembered it being amazing.  The swim, bike and run course are scenic and challenging and familiar.  Being familiar with the course, I thought I had it made.  That, it seems, may have been a flaw in my logic. My two big races this year were Lavaman and St. George 70.3.  Both I had never done before.  They made my stomach churn in anticipation of race day.  Since I had never done them before, I was excited but never set a solid time goal for either. For Victoria, I was calm, confident and had set some solid time goals.  I set my 2013 time goals based on my previous time in 2009.  In 2009 my time was 5:47:37.  It was my second 1/2 IM and I remember feeling great in and after the race.  This year I can easily do 5:40. My swim is about the same or faster that it was in 2009, m

And we are off to Victoria.  The ferry is full of tourists and triathletes.  Almost every 2nd car has bike on the back.  The weather is perfect, sunny and warm for this part of the world.

In preparation for the Victoria 1/2 Ironman this weekend, I took a day trip to Victoria a couple of weekends ago to ride the course.   Ellen, who is always up for cycling fun, was excited for the adventure. We took a 7am ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay.  Parking at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, we rode on the ferry.  This is a cheaper option than brining the car over and much more fun.  It does, however, require a bit more planning.    Waiting for the ferry in the holding pen.  Yay, no rain! We paid the extra $12 to sit in the SeaWest Lounge.  Quiet environment, comfy chairs, unlimited Starbucks coffee, yogurt, fruit and cheese!  Well worth the extra money. View from the lounge. I had the map for the route loaded in my phone but forgot the paper map.  My concern was my iPhone running out of juice before we were done.  A BC InfoCentre popped up at the perfect time on the Pat Bay Hwy so we stopped in for some info.  After grabbing a map, we were o