The last three months have been a mixed bag. My number one priority has been training for the Buffalo Springs Lake Half Ironman on June 26th. This race prep has demanded more out of me physically and mentally than any other Half Ironman I’ve done before. Along with some great workouts, I’ve found some of the long bikes and runs to be very lonely and daunting. Fortunately, with less than 3 weeks to go, I’m in the best shape of my life and starting to actually look forward to the race.
When I do motivational speaking, I often talk about family, friends and strangers who help me to achieve my goals (this is one of my favourite parts of my story). The last few weeks have been extra good thanks to:
Beth Primrose, who has been a great swim partner all season long (with some coaching thrown in)
Trily, who came out of retirement to craft me some new wetsuit pants
Cyclepath Oakville, they hooked me up with some new gear, which I’m excited to race with
Rich, who lent me his racing wheelchair and wheels to experiment with different hardware
Some of Canada’s top handcyclists who have given me some pointers to go faster
The LPC Triathlon Team and Coach Mark, who have been brilliant (great camp, clinic and open water swimming)
My nephew Callum, who is coming with me to Texas – Road Trip!
My good friend, Jim, who has connected me with his sister and her husband in Lubbock, Texas. It’s reassuring to know I have Callum and Anthony to drag my ass out of the water and help me in race transition.
Thanks for staying in touch and cheering me on. I’ll be back with a race report blog in early July and a bunch of Facebook updates between now and then.
Cheers,
Rob
My coach found this 8% grade hill for me to practice climbing in the racing chair. On the first push up the hill I blew one of my tires, but I managed two more ascents before getting on the handbike. There's a hill like this in the race in Texas. Not exactly 'accessible', because you can easily flip over backwards, but definitely a challenge.