As Western Canadians get ready to start another season of multisport at Westwood Lake on May 12th, it’s time to pay homage to those unsung heroes of our sport – the race directors.
This time on the show we feature the race director for Dynamic Race Events, Angie Woodhead. Angie reckons doing her job is a lot like juggling chainsaws.
As you can imagine there’s endless prep-work before the gun goes off…and then there is managing the unmanageable, the day of the race.
In our interview we get a high-definition behind-the-scenes look at what goes on to put on your local triathlons, plus we hear about some of the crazy things people in “athlete comments.” Just over 30 minutes of insight & inspiration will fill your ears at the click of a button.
Here’s half the story. But what does the cockpit of this rocket look like? Click on the bike above to learn more about the SP. It’s the tri-bike made by A2.
Saturday, it’s many folks’ favourite day of the week. And it’s also the name of an app that can save you crazy bucks on the stuff you put in your body while you train. It comes down to water, sugar, and salt. But how much? That’s where the Saturday app comes in. Click on the links above to get your free trial and more information about fueling for your next training session.
Chances are if you are on Fitspeek, you’ve done a triathlon. Chances are also that you wish that more people would tri as well!
Chances are they want to but they can’t ________, _________________, or _______________________. (insert fear-inspiring sport of choice here).
If you are in Western Canada the excuses for not tri-ing have been reduced, thanks to Angie Woodhead. Coming up later this year is the 1st mixed relay triathlon in the country.
The distances of each leg are super-short, so almost anyone who puts in a bit of training can participate in the event. And because it is a team event, you get to watch your teammates race and cheer them on to the finish line. What a great way to get some new blood into the sport of triathlon!
Like anything in sport (& in life) the devil is in the details and to help explain exactly how the event works (& most importantly the race distances) is race organizer, Angie Woodhead.
Joining Angie on the show is Triathlon Magazine Canada editor, Kevin Mackinnon. Kevin has seen quite a few mixed relays over in Europe and he tells us about the history of the mixed relay and he offers us his perspective on this new racing opportunity. Hit the play button below to hear Angie & Kevin.
Some eye candy for you, courtesy of A2 bikes. The aero & affordable RP. Click on the bike to find out more. When you are ready to buy, use Fitspeek22 to get your special discount.
Like most of us, Paul Auton liked to ride around on his bike as a kid. Like some of us, Paul also became fairly sedentary as he got older and took on the responsibilities of life and a career (in his case getting up to 300 pounds.)
Like a few of us, Paul got back on his bike as an adult and really enjoyed it. Like none of us, Paul found himself second only to Canadian tri-legend Jeff Symonds at the Oliver Half-Iron back in June.
How do you get from 300 pounds to being one of the fastest age-group triathletes in the province? The bike, of course! Paul uses his not-so-secret weapon to compensate for a rather average (or worse) swim. A bike is just a hunk of carbon fibre & metal, however, and it takes a human heart and lungs to turn those pedals, and to get Uber Biker status not only takes desire and talent, but it also takes miles and miles.
Thankfully for Paul, he enjoys his time on his bike, or should we say on one of his 5 or 6 or 7 bikes. This week on the podcast we introduce a triathlete who is doing things his way and is enjoying perhaps his best season ever.
If you were a TV geek back in the 1980s, the quote, “I love it when a plan comes together” is probably quite familiar. And although Danielle Fauteux is not part of the A-Team, she is an A-level triathlete.
Danielle is fairly new to triathlon but she is solid proof that surrounding yourself with the right people, having a solid plan, and sticking to that plan can produce some amazing results.
In her 1st triathlon, Danielle was able to check off a bunch of things from every triathlete’s “must-do” list. Finish a triathlon – check. Finish an Ironman – check. Qualify for Kona – check. Survive a crash with a turkey vulture? Well, maybe that wasn’t on your list… Hear our conversation with this successful business owner and up-and-coming triathlete by pressing that play button below.
So, this is how it feels to wake up without regrets about what and how much went into my body the night before. Actually, that is a bit of an exaggeration, as those years of seasonal extravagance and remorse ended well before anyone knew about the wrath of Justin Bieber on music. I now see that the Ontario lad is now shilling Timbits, so I know a duet with Ian Tyson will soon be on the way and all will be well with the music world.
That other wrath is still with us, that Covid-thing, version…whatever. That thing that has, and continues to, throw uncertainty into the lives of most of us. When I go back to work on Monday, however, it will be without students; that is certain. But is it shocking? Not so much anymore.
It’s usually on this day that I look giddily at a blank piece of paper and fill it with race dates. For the second year in a row, this may become an exercise in disappointment and flushed dreams. For two years in a row I trained for Ironman Canada. For two years in a row, I stood in a wetsuit next to a Big Peach with only a handful of other die-hards who didn’t need a medal and a tattoo and a t-shirt as evidence that we had too much spare time on our hands. Yeah, we did the whole damn thing anyway.
If you had an opportunity to do a real race in the past 20 months you were either rich or lucky or both. Anybody with the money and motivation could scoot over to Andorra or Arizona or Alberta, places where the local leaders deemed Covid “over.” Over here in BC, Bonnie’s abundance of caution cancelled most races.
Folks who managed to race the Vancouver Triathlon totally lucked out as the heat domes of summer had passed, Covid numbers temporarily abated, and the curse of the coyote was averted. Hitting the finish line must have been as much of a relief as it was an accomplishment. Being on a real race course with real salt water stinging your eyes, real gravity pulling you downhill, and having real people pass you was something most of us thought was a right…not a privilege. Truthfully, however, I’m more of a racing is a necessity kind of athlete. A greedy bastard.
And as lucky as you were in actually having a race to do, you may have been doubly lucky if you had a race ready bike to do the race on. In 2021, the worldwide conspiracy against cyclists and triathletes entered stage 2 with bikes and the things that make them move (chains, derailleurs and the like) being in short supply and the prices of used equipment rise substantially.
As you map out your athletic year you need the faith of a pilgrim and the nerve of a gambler. What happens if all the races you sign up for are cancelled? Worse yet, what happens if all the races that you signed up for this year, plus all those races that you rolled over from 2020 and 2021 actually go ahead? Physical exhaustion and financial ruin looms on the horizon. Well maybe not but you have a lot of thinking and soul searching to do before you whip out that credit card and hit register. Happy New Year!
With the latest travel restrictions imposed by the provincial government, we can see just how wise most race directors in the province were by cancelling events for 2021. As of April, we are in a holding pattern, with numbers of Covid still at a serious level but with vaccination rates skyrocketing weekly.
There’s no bringing back a race, once it has been cancelled, but could you, would you, participate in a do it yourself event if travel restrictions were rescinded? That is the question we put to Fitspeek members Mikey Ross, Kevin Watt, & Roy McBeth. Hear the discussion question, as well as an update on the cycling and triathlon scene by pressing play below.
Calgary’s Angie Woodhead made the most of her unwelcome time off during Covid-19. She took time to think about how to better serve the athletes who do her races, all of them.
Her actions are revolutionary and bound to challenge other race operations and sanctioning bodies such as Triathlon Canada.
Starting this year, Dynamic Race Events will be offering a third option, when you choose gender on your race registration.
Hear about how she made that decision and how it will be implemented on this episode of Fitspeek.
