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If you weren’t a “jock” in high school, take heart, neither was Dave Matheson. Although his sisters were highly successful athletes growing up in Penticton, sports weren’t really his thing. He got into body-building and then mountain biking before finding his true passion – triathlon. By surrounding himself with wise and caring people (Kevin Cutjar, Jonathan Caron, Gary Scatchard) he learned the ropes quickly, was able to avoid injury, and became a super fast athlete.

This August Matheson accomplished one of his greatest accomplishments. At age 46 he was the overall winner of the Ultra 520K triathlon. He also set the world age group record for that race distance. In Fitspeek 43, you can listen to Dave’s progression to the top of the ultra distance world. He also has tips and advice for you and your training.

Also to help you race better than ever before, Fitspeek’s Zack Neufeld in Between The Ears (the guy with the beard – above) explains how racing for others may contribute to some amazing results. Hear it all by pressing play below.

If you are looking to challenge yourself and try a triathlon, or run your first marathon Tri*Joy can help. We offer in-person consultations, effective training programs, and regular progress assessments to help you reach your goals. E-mail kknnheinze@yahoo.com to set things up.

IronSoul Update – Saturday August 25 – 9 AM

• The big question in everyone’s minds, of course is, “will there be an event on Sunday?” As of right now the answer is “maybe.” As I noted in a previous update we will run the full event if the pollution numbers are under 120. We will run a modified event (details below) if the numbers are between 121 and 149. We will cancel the event if numbers are above 150. That decision will be made at 6 o’clock this evening.

• Speaking of this evening. We are have an athlete and volunteer get-together in Penticton, starting at 5:30 this evening. It will be at a place that used to be called Anthony’s. It is now called the Pirate’s Cove. It is located on the corner of Yorkton Avenue & Skaha Lake Road. Please try to be there. We will explain the route more, answer any questions, and get to know each other.

• Yesterday, Elise, Pat and I took a tour of the FULL bike course. We took a lot of pictures and you can see them here https://www.facebook.com/fitspeek/ . Thanks to Tony & Elise for their wise advice. The bike course will no longer have the Oliver Ranch Road section because of the cattle guard. That leaves two other things if we do “go long.” The first concern, as usual is the traffic in Oliver, we need to be super aware of all the farm vehicles as well as the tourists they can be rather oblivious to us cyclists. My second concern is the BAD pavement on the Yellow Lake climb. It has become very crumbly in places. You’ll need to focus on safety while you climb.

• Now, about the modified course. We are very excited about it as it captures many of the highlights of the epic course, here is is!

(Swim Stuff)

• • Swim from the peach to the Sicamous and return to peach.

  • Wetsuit strippers will take your wetsuit off. You will put your swim stuff in a bag and head off on your bike.

(Bike course)

• • You will turn LEFT from the peach onto Lakeshore Drive West, you will go past the Lakeside Resort & The Japanese Gardens. Turn LEFT on Front Street. (only on this for about 50 metres)

  • After crossing a small creek, you will enter a traffic circle, exit it and go RIGHT (south) on Ellis Street.

  • Take Ellis for about 1 KM until it ends at the high school. Turn LEFT onto Eckhardt Avenue East.

  • Follow Eckhardt for about 500 M then turn RIGHT on Government Street.

  • Follow Government for about 1.5 KM then turn RIGHT on Dawson Avenue.

  • Follow Dawson for about 500 M then turn LEFT onto SOUTH Main Street.

  • From here on in, things will be very familiar for you!

  • South Main Street BECOMES East Side Road, follow this all the way to McClean Creek Road turn LEFT.

  • Follow McClean Creek Road, take it into OK Falls as it becomes 10^th Avenue.

  • Turn LEFT onto highway 97.

  • Ask me about the bike turn-around point.

  • After bike turn-around head NORTH on highway 97. Take it all the way back to Penticton.

  • DO NOT TAKE IT BACK TO THE PEACH

  • Continue going as 97 becomes Skaha Lake Drive, you will pass Sudbury Beach, keep going.

  • Turn RIGHT onto South Beach Drive. Once you enter the park, T2 will be on your left.

  • Give your biking stuff to volunteers. Pick up your run stuff.

(Run Course Stuff)

• • Exit T2, run LEFT along Skaha Lake beach all the way to East Side Road.

  • Turn RIGHT (south) onto East Side.

  • Your first aid station will be on the left side of the road, about 4 k down the road at a place we call “Turtle Rock.”

  • Continue running along East Side road and turn LEFT on McClean Creek Road.

  • Follow McClean Creek Road for about 1 K until you reach the turn-around/aid station.

  • After that you just retrace your steps back to the finish line.

(Finish Line Stuff)

• We will have someone drive you and your stuff back to your vehicle or room.

• We will be having a post-event social at a place and time to be decided soon.

We will check the air quality index at 6 PM on Saturday and advise everyone at that time. If the index is 120 or less we will do the full event. If it is between 121 and 150 we will do an approximate half distance. If the index is above 150 the event will be canceled. The forecast is calling for rain here on Friday, that may help us!

This past July’s Ironman Canada race in Whistler was one of the toughest ever. With a new 3 loop cycling course and 37 degree heat, athletes were given a tough hand to play. And while we usually just stay “North of the border” Meghan’s story of tenacity is inspiring for all of us. If you are an aspiring athlete who wants to eventually do the Ironman World Championships this is required listening! Although her Cinderella story was rewritten in the last two miles of the run, (you’ll have to listen to find out how!) this F2C elite team member explains how the day was an amazing learning experience. Hear it all right now by pressing play on the little button right here

And whether your athletic journey involves a trip to Kona, the Mission Half-Marathon, the Valley Vertikiller, or the Cultus Lake Triathlon we at Tri*Joy can help. We offer in-person meetings, effective training programs, and regular progress assessment. E-mail us at kknnheinze@yahoo.com to take your first step to the starting line.

Mission’s Sheigh Gaudette has only been in competitive swimming for about four years now but what a four years they have been. Sheigh is on the fast track to swimming awesomeness and has been going around the country competing at the Canada Games as well as all the other big meets in the hopes of making it to the Canadian Team in her specialty the 100 M breaststroke.

In Fitspeek 41 we had a chance to speak with Sheigh during her off-season about this year’s achievements and challenges.

Even if you are not an aspiring Olympian, the coaches at Tri*Joy}The Spirit of Multisport can take you to the next level whether that’s the finish line or the podium. Contact us kknnheinze@yahoo.com for your free in person consultation.

With the 40th birthday of the Ironman Triathlon coming up, I thought I would dip into the Fitspeek archives and unearth a neat interview I did with one of the members of the Ironman Hall of Fame. Click play below to hear the Bob Babbitt interview in its entirety. Bob talks about his life before there was a thing called triathlon, his move to what would be the triathlon mecca of San Diego, Tugs and Tom Warren, and a whole lot more.

And if you are planning to do your 1st (or 5th) Ironman, we at Tri*Joy can help you along the way. We offer in person consultations and regular progress assessments to keep you on track and motivated. And with a low client to coach ratio, we give you personalized attention that the big firms can’t. E-mail us at kknnheinze@yahoo.com to get things moving towards your starting line.

Just realised that Fitspeek 40 was only 50% uploaded. The whole darn works is there now. Sorry about the mis-fire.

Kevin H

We celebrate 40 episodes of Fitspeek by going extreme! Chad Bentley is an accomplished ultra distance triathlete from North Vancouver & originally from Abbotsford. Chad will be doing the Epic Five Triathlon which features five Ironman distance races on five Hawaiian islands on five consecutive days later this month. You can hear about his transformation from rugby player to beer drinker to amazing athlete.

Of course you can’t become an amazing ultra distance athlete without having sustainable motivation. In this week’s Between The Ears, Zack Neufeld explores biological, psychological, and spiritual components to maintain motivation year-round.

Also in Fitspeek 40, (weighing in at an ULTRA 70 minutes this week) we have our final installment of Vince Speeks and our upcoming events schedule. Hear it all by pressing play below

And after hearing the interview with Chad, we encourage you to support his Epic Five charities by making at donation to them at his website here: http://www.plantslifesports.com/

Steve King is a many who wears many hats. In addition to being one of the best known voices in the world of endurance sports he is an author, clinical counsellor, Badwater Ultra Marathon finisher and as I learned, the founder of the Skaha Lake Ultra Swim.

After disappearing for a few years,  local “Ultra Guys” Chad Bentley & Matt Hill have resurrected the race. Numbers have never been higher. In Fitspeek 39 we hear about the origins of the Skaha Ultra Swim including a crazy story about a crazy dude who swam the entire 11.8 KM – doing the butterfly stroke.

Later in the program we hear Kevin Watt’s comments on the second annual Positive Spin for Mental Health held in Chilliwack. Also dealing with matters of the mind, Zack Neufeld in Between The Ears explains how to banish negative thoughts from impeding your race day performances.  Hear it all, including part six of Vince Speeks by pressing the play button below.

If the thought of doing a 100 mile charity ride, ultra swim, triathlon, or marathon is something you’ve wanted to do but you are not sure how to start, Tri*Joy can help. We’ll talk to you in person, set up a training plan that works with your life, assess your progress, celebrate your successes, and get you ready for the start line.

E-mail us at kknnheinze@yahoo.com to get things going. It’s never too late to start!

Our local sporting clubs celebrated the summer solstice with some very well-attended events this past Wednesday evening. We feature the key organizers from the the Abbotsford Triathlon Club and the Phoenix Velo Training Group talking about the night’s events. We also speak with club members at the starting line of the ATC time trial and the Phoenix Velo hill climb.

In addition to strong leadership at the top and a dedicated membership, a huge factor in both club’s successes is the role of volunteers. On Wednesday night it was Allan Fossheim helping out with timing duties for ATC and Randy Isaac and Geoff Everton keeping the Phoenix Velo riders on track.

Fitspeek 38 is also your source of brain food for thought as Zack Neufeld explains how to turn failure into success on his  Between the Ears segment. And in episode six of Vince Speeks, we find out about the debilitating injury that forced Vince Dimanno out of the sport of triathlon. But don’t worry because there’s a happy ending! Hear the whole story by pressing play below.

If the idea of doing a hill climb, a time trial, a ten k, or a triathlon sounds like something you’d like to do, Tri*Joy can help. We offer coaching services to get you to the starting line of the race of your dreams. Not only are we your local coaching option, we offer stuff the “big guys” can’t – like weekly progress evaluations and in-person consultations. Contact kknnheinze@yahoo.com to get more information for coaching services.