Hey Duncan and Scott thanks for the recent posts..... Great to see Duncan in Kelowna. It was a good day.

Congratulations SCott on IMC! .....I didn't see you out there .......maybe I was too focused or bothered!

The Olympics ...were awesome to watch....I watched more this yr than in previous....b/c it was usually on when my kids were alsleep and I should have been! Simon is a stud......to come back 8yrs later and win a silver medal (after his gold) He's definetly a great race horse. The commentator was Barrie Shepley....SImon's first Coach ....prior to Joel and Lance (who he won Gold with in Sydney) .He probably felt the need to say something coach like....I just tuned him out and watched the racing......thinking 'it's just Barrie".

IMC ....it was a gret day in Penticton with the volunteers and the crowds....it never cease's to amaze me how that town come's together. I get inspired by the stories and the last finishers......this yr for me it was ....the Heart transplant guy from Alberta and Sister Madonna Buder...that women! 78yrs old.....I can't complain of my aches and pains! ...and finshing with my eldest daughter Analiese (5yrs old).

IMC for me was an interesting experience....a swim/ and run that I would hope not to repeat! Bike and finish yes! This year I have been marred with achilles isssues preventing me from doing the run training I would normally do for any of the races I have done. ( heck I come from a running background!) ,so, the run for me was a painful experience....but I had my heart set on doing this race again this yr.

The swim was rough this yr (last yr I found clear water from the 1st bouy, and I started in the same spot) ....so, No Scott ! I got dunked and smacked around right until the turnaroud at the boat .....when I finally got some clear water and I kept thinking.....why? Your're out here all day guys! What's the point of this? ....anyway, it certainly woke me up!

I arrived in transtion about 1min slower than last yr which fueled my fire for the bike.........I had a great ride .....IMC's ride is one of most spectacular rides in all the Ironmans around the world.......it's great scenery and this yr's bonus was having Steve King on Richter. I used Kevin Cutjars advice on how to break down IMC's bike ....use heading out to Osooyos as the "warm up" (60k)Then, the "ride" (90k)starts in Osooyoos and focus on getting over Yellow MTn strong., then the last part is downhill , so focus on your legs for the run ....it worked ....i got off the bike and felt good.

The ladies in the change tent asked me "do you want your singlet and shorts? " ( I always put that stuff in just in case and never use it!) It for some reason sounded like a good idea....I thought at the time....so I quickly changed into running shorts ,not knowing I dropped my blister stuff on the way out of transition . So, I commenced the run knowing full well my achilles would give me grief almost a mental pain barrier that I had to crack to get through the race.....then the advil kicked in , except I kept having to adjust my shorts because of chafing........then around mile 8 someone ran by me and said ....." you know you're bleeding?" I said "oh"...."thanks"......looked down and saw blood streaming down both legs and shoes the colour of blood. Well that was the cracker for me....it was almost like I had prepared mentallyfor my achilles but not torn up legs! so, I spent the better part of the run going through aid stations washing my legs and getting vaseline...the chafing was getting unbearable then thank GOD it started to sprinkle , but, the damage was already done....my rt leg was raw meat......one women ran by and said"ph I got mine today too....don't worry it's not a beauty contest" ........I responded...."I wish that was the problem!". It made me laugh.......funny how you can laugh in pain....then I saw some juggler/joggler dude and laughed more....maybe I was getting a little punch drunk.....but it is interesting how the universe works. So, heading back into town,I continued with my ritual of getting to an aid station sponges! wash legs .....vaseline! I had aid station people running after me " you know you're bleeding?.....do you need anything? " They were awesome. Then finally when the pain just got so unbearable I saw my family and I was overcome with emotion........( Andreas said I couldn't finish with all 4 kids b/c somebody had just dropped a kid at the finish line , that was a goal of mine b/c last yr I finished with Matias & Analiese , not the younger set of twins)

so, Analiese said" Mummy I said I was going to finish with you!" as she ran beside me...."I looked at her and said "OK Bugsy ....lets do this" So, she ran the last kilometre with me...(.I was so proud of her) ...there was a loud roar from crowd and we crossed the line together.

I'm left with a raw/road rash leg that has kept me up 5 nts , but, I'm also left with a memory of finishing with Analiese and the look of joy on her face.......that makes it all worth it Isn't that what Iroman is about? The stories..........there are many.

I still have the desire to finish a Iroman with all 4 kids , so flame continues to burn inside.

Unfortunately I missed the women's Olympic tri coverage - my stomach pangs won out over the race and by the time I had finished the feed, it was all over. I was bound and determined to make sure I watched the mens race, so I ate on and off al day long to keep the munchies away.

How about that Simon. In your face CBC anouncer .... I never thought Simon looked tired, shoulders tight, and on and on ..... Being a Canadian comentator, you would have thought he could have been a bit more positive. By now, everyone has seen Simon's run in Sydney, how could you not believe the dude would come back. I was screaming at the TV and for a moment, I thought he had done it again - WOW, our sport makes for some exciting finishes. Thanks Simon for another awesome performance.

The second triathlon in as many weekends was IMC. Maybe it was just me but the crowds seemed much larger than in previous years ....... Check out Lakshore after the swim start.

I manged to catch a few fellow Polar athletes, Carolyn Hubbard and Scott Jacobsen on the bike and run - Scott and Carolyn looked focused and strong, so I am not surprised to hear that he had a great result.

I am often asked if I would ever try my hand at the Ironman distance - my response is always the same "nope". I tip my hat to each and every finsher, I even get teary eyed when I see friends finish or hear of athletes who have overcome significant adversity to be in the race. It's just not for me, I'll stick to appreciating those that take on the challenge of the Ironman event.

It was great to be there as the last person crossed the line before the midnight cutoff - a powerfully moving experience for me each and every year. And so ends tow weekends of triathlon. I'm now back home and switching my focus to a few running events (yet to be determined) before the end of another season.

Duncan

Every ironman event has a "side story." Some are serious, some are comical. We have all heard about the inspirational story of Jon "Blazeman" Blais, who despite a diagnosis of ALS, completed the Ironman Hawaii race in 2005. Or Sarah Reinerten, the first above the knee amputee to complete an ironman. Every year at the world championship in Hawaii, there are inspirational stories about ordinary people beating huge obstacles and reaching their goals.

Penticton has also had it's share of good stories. This year, there are several to choose from. The first is the joggler. I thought this one was kind of silly. The "Joggler's"goal was to run the marathon portion of the race while juggling three balls. I saw him heading out to OK falls while I was on the way in, joggling away. I didn't quite get the point of it, but it did provide a bit of a chuckle for me.

Then there is the story of Michael Hennessey, who is trying to raise awareness for trisomy 13 and 18, a genetic disorder similiar to Down's Syndrome. He is attempting to break the world record for the number of ironman distance triathlons in a single year. The record currently sits at 14, Ironman Canada was his 11th in the last four months. You can go to http://www.ironmanforkids.com/ to read more about his story.

I thought it might be a good fit though, to pass on the story of Dwight Kroening of Sherwood Park Alberta, to the Polar Heartrate team. Dwight Kroening is a 49 year old man, who had a heart transplant at the age of 27. This weekend he became the first heart transplant patient to complete an ironman event. I stayed around the finish chute after my race, and saw many people, each with their own story, come across the line. It's one of my favorite parts of ironman, watching people come in at 15, 16 and 17 hours with the look of utter exhaustion, and complete joy on their faces. So it was pretty cool, and pretty inspirational to see Dwight Kroening come in, powered by his donated heart, at 15:33:26. The crowd, outside in the pouring rain went wild, it was quite a moment. You can read a little more of Dwight Kroening's story here: http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/pentictonwesternnews/sports/27295249.html

Happy training everyone! . . .Scott

Congrats to Carolyn and Scott .. Ironman finishers again!!!

Looking forward to some post-race comments from the competitors and/or the spectators.

Hi Everyone - hope the summer is going well for you all!

A couple of notes and pics from the Apple Triathlon the past weekend. Polar did have a few athletes there - myself, Carolyn and a fellow from Alberta. So there was a fair amount of red and black moving around the course.

For myself - this was a little tune up for IMC this coming weekend. Normally I do the olympic distance for this race, but with IMC coming up, I wanted a shorter, but higher intensity workout that I could recover quickly from. So, while I wasn't at all concerned about the result of this race, and wasn't going "all out," still managed 2nd in my age group, 34th overall. This is also the first time I have ever seen this race go with a "no wet-suit" swim due to the temperature. It was interesting watching all of the panic in the transition area before the race . . . .

As an aside - I was also coaching and being evaluated at the youth camp prior to the apple, and finished off my certification for the NCCP Triathlon Competition coaching card - so I was happy about that . . . .

Have a great remainder of the summer everyone, and good luck to Carolyn and I think Mike for IMC this weekend! We should get together for a group Polar picture if you have time - I'm staying at the Best Western, and can be reached at 250-718-8584.

. . . .Scott

Wow .. Wow ..

I must admit that I thought his race was over heading up the final hill into the stadium .. but then he bridged the gap to the lead group of three and when he made the move with about 600m to go .. WOW

Congrats to Frodeno .. what a superb race he ran .. and as much as Simon can thank Paul Jenkins for keeping the bike a controlled effort, he can thank the big German for helping catch the lead group during the run

I was disappointed to see Gomez in fourth as I do think he's one of the best triathletes in the world .. How about the British kid, Brownlee ..

Thanks Simon for making triathlon one of the best sports to watch!

Wow .. Emma Snowsill ran away from the field to capture gold in Beijing. Vanessa Fernandes gutted it out for silver and Aussie Emma Moffatt captured the bronze.

A superb race diminished soley by the lousy commentating by the CBC.

Tough day for the Canadian women.