Elements of Erin 337

An annual tradition for me since 2006, the 2013 Delta Triathlon was once again a great event.  This year, the adult race was before the Kids of Steel race so no need to arrive too early for the event.  My swim start time was estimated a 9:25am and it was pretty much on time.  My Dad was also racing and started around 8am.   The weather was windy with a bit of sun and NO RAIN!  Yippee! The best part about this event is the HUGE amount of community support from the South Delta Triathlon Club and The Steveston Athletic Association .  Every second racer, volunteer and cheerleaders were friends.   The pool swim went well.  Glad we practiced 'annoying Delta swimmer' drills the week before.  Although, I was probably the annoying swimmer more than others.  I was the only one who was doing flip turns in the lane and made sure to make my presence known at each end.  Worked out well since my swim was quite fast and my lane count...

This spring break, my family spent two weeks in Waikoloa, Hawaii.  Last time we were on The Big Island was in June 2011 for my 40th birthday and Honu 70.3 triathlon.  This time was for rest and relaxation but I still managed to fit a race in.   After we booked our trip, I searched the internet for any local races while we were there.  I was very excited to find the Lavaman was right in the middle of our trip.   Lavaman is an Olympic distance triathlon that is a popular race for Team In Training groups from all of Canada and US.  The race is based in Waikoloa.  The swim is in A Bay, the bike is a mostly flat and fast out and back along the Queen K then an amazing tour if the Waikoloa resort area on the run.  The most spectacular and toughest part of the race is the last mile of the run.  The last mile is on Kings Trail which is a lava rock trail along the ocean finishing off by a 500m run in soft dry sand to the finish.   ...

Back in February, Tim and I took part in the Chilly Hilly cycling event put on by the Cascade Bike Club.  The Chilly Hilly is a 33mile (52km) ride around Bainbridge Island, WA.  It is a short and inexpensive ride from downtown Seattle.   Many cyclist ride over from Seattle on the ferry the day of the event but we chose to drive to Seattle on Saturday afternoon and stay on Bainbridge for the night.  The Best Western hotel close to the event start is clean, comfortable, affordable, bike friendly and includes breakfast.  What more could you ask for?  They also have a noon check out time which enabled us to complete the event onSunday morning (starting at 8am) ,enjoy the post ride food and still have plenty of time to shower and check out before noon. The event is all inclusive.  All levels of riders and styles of bikes were seen on the route.  In addition, it is VERY AFFORDABLE.   Here is a link to the event for this year.  ...

Back at the end of January I attended the FIST Bike Fitting Certification course in California.  After five days of intensive training, I am a certified triathlon and road bike fitter.   I highly recommend the facility and the training if you are interested in becoming a bike fitter. Xantusia - The ranch were the courses took place Yes, they even get snow in California.  View from the outdoor deck A couple of horses on the ranch View of the guest house from the deck No guesthouse is complete without a Tiki Bar On property outdoor pool was out of service for the winter Wonderful riding in the area Panorama view of the bike fitting training facility Morning run near the property Panorama view from the deck

A huge thank you to everyone who came to participate and support the SAA Kidsport Swimathon Fundraiser. The event raised $2046.30 for Kidsport's Richmond Chapter.   Special thank you to Jimmy Chong, Colin McKay and my parents for pledging me. In the end I swam 1000m and helped some of the club members perfect their flip turns during the 30 minute time.   After the swim, I managed to get the winning bid on a hotel stay and a Nike running shirt in the silent auction.   Looking forward to next year and the 2nd Annual SAA Kidsport Swimathon Fundraiser. Here is a link to a story about the event.

On February 8, 2013 I will be participating in a Swimathon to help raise funds for Kidsport Richmond.   I will have 30 minutes in a 25 metre pool to swim as many lengths as I can.   How many lengths do you think I can swim in 30 minutes?   Not familiar with Kidsport?  Well here is their mission statement: "We believe that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport™ provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport" And some information from their website: "KidSport™ Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance for registration fees and equipment to kids aged 18 and under. Through a confidential application process we provide grants so they can play a season of sport. One of our primary goals is to support our network of 11 pro...

Seriously??!!  This is what I have to look forward to for the next 5 days in the forecast?  Agh!  This morning I got up and it was raining so I did my trainer ride thinking it would stop raining at some point today.  Well, it is now almost 5:30pm, dark and STILL RAINING!  Like build an ark raining.   At least Thursday looks like it might be an dry day to commute to work on my bike.  Cold and dry I can handle.  Cold and raining is down right miserable.   But wait, it gets better.  Saturday there is a chance so snow AND rain.   For any US readers out there,  these temperatures are in Celsius  so they are not quite as bad as you are thinking  but it is really wet.