The neighbourhood pool where I train is pretty small, only 3 lanes at the best of times. I normally go to the “early risers” adult swim, and the crowd at that hour is mixed but definitely slanted towards the older age brackets. This means that the first two lanes are really slow, leaving me only one choice.
I just wish that everyone would pick their lanes a little more sensibly. The slow crowd spot the 2-3 people moving only about an inch per second so they flock to the middle lane, forcing the medium lane group to switch into the fast lane. Now the “lanes” at this pool are only about half the width of a standard lane, so once the fast lane has 6 people in it going at wildly different speeds, it’s crowded and difficult to pass.
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With the excesses of the holidays safely behind me, it’s time to start looking towards the upcoming triathlon season. There’s a lot to do, especially since I still haven’t competed in a race yet. I’m back in the pool already but the unusual weather here in Vancouver has left my neighbourhood’s streets a mess. Hopefully this will clear up soon and I can resume running and get back on track.
The tri season in BC starts pretty early with the UBC Triathlon and Duathlon kicking things off on March 12. I suppose I could give this one a shot, but my real goal is to try at least one of the following sprint events
and then hopefully graduate to one of these scenic and challenging olympic events
For a full calendar of 2005 races in BC, check out Triathlon BC’s site.
Ever since my old bike (a ‘99 Rocky Mountain Hammer Race) was stolen earlier this year, I’ve been extra-paranoid about its replacement. I love riding my Devinci Sydney, but the thought of locking it up somewhere and coming back to find it gone is too much to bear. Losing the Hammer was traumatic enough.
As a result, I’ve ended up biking far less than I should. So this weekend I picked up an old beat up road bike at Our Community Bikes. Its a really neat bike shop that recycles old bikes and parts. You can rent a work stand and their full range of tools for $5/hour - not a bad deal!
My “new old” bike is nothing pretty to look at. But used 62cm Bianchi frames aren’t easy to come by. The bike fits me pretty well and it handles quite nicely. Once I get the hang of the downtube shifters I’ll be tearing up the pavement in no time…
Fantastic run today despite a two-week break due to travel and a bad cold. Felt normal, even a bit slow, but I managed to nail my target time of 30 minutes on a hilly 6km loop. I was happily surprised to look at my stopwatch when I was finished. I’ll have to chalk that one up to proper rest and recovery time!
(The actual time was 30:03 but hey, no need to be picky. After all, I lost far more than 3 seconds due to traffic lights)