Saturday, August 29, 2009

Safeway Special

Gear bags are packed, bikes are checked in, last minute shake out swim/bike/runs are done. Now it’s just time to hurry up and wait till morning. I’m fortunate to have some good company, friends and fellow athletes Haley Cooper and Mark van Akkren. To kill the time, we’ve posted up at the local Safeway--on account of the free wi-fi. Ironically, we just heard a shopper tell the cashier that he was just hoping to see some pros out shopping. Apparently he didn’t hear about the 3-for-1 special at the end of aisle twelve.

Or run into the Queen of Canada herself, Lisa Bentley, over by the Ensure section, as I was fortunate to do.


I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I also feel ready. Ready to “get ‘er done”, as the Canadians say. Prep for this one has gone smoothly—fitness wise, I’ve been feeling great on the bike, ok on the run, and have even seen a few glimmers of hope in the water. I have lots of rock star training partners as of late to thank for this challenging, yet highly entertaining training block—thanks to all of you who have made even the big training miles slide by easily. I'll do my best to put it to work tomorrow.


With a challenging course, a well stacked field, and race day temps expected to top out over 90 degrees, it's going to be a tough day out there no matter how you slice it. Fortunately, IM Canada has the reputation for being one of the most beautiful courses on the circuit. In just a few short hours, I'll be out there with a few thousand friends doing what I love best.


See you on the other side!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Katya. We've never met. I live in Spokane and I'm a friend of Haley's. A friend and I were heading out on a ride just as Haley was coming back from sending you out on that little ride before you guys hit the road for Canada. We saw you right out ahead of us and we tried to chase you down! LOL. But we just couldn't reel you in. Weren't you just doing a pre-race spin? And if you were wondering who those panting, crazy girls were who were shouting your name...we are just Haley's crazy friends from Spokane and she did tell us to try to catch you. She totally has to claim us, don't let her out of that one. Nice job in Canada!!

    Phaedra.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Katya,

    Congratulations on your triathlon! I look forward to reading about it in your next post. You should be very proud of your achievement. Your blog is a great inspiration for other triathletes, and I’d love for you to share your past and upcoming experiences with others through Wellsphere’s HealthBlogger Network (HBN). With the HBN, you can connect with other [people who have accomplished the same goal] and encourage those who wish to follow in your path.



    For more information about joining, check out http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger or feel free to e-mail me at hua [at] wellsphere [dot] com.



    Best,

    Hua

    Director of Blogger Networks

    ReplyDelete