The Last Mile

this triathlon is strenuous to be able to compete athletes must be an excellent physical condition by starting the race the athlete declares that they are in good health and have completed the appropriate amount of conditioning to complete the race it's almost good to not know how hard it is if I knew how tough it was or how fast you need to go or what you need to do to get to the level done that you know I might be intimidated by it or might think it's impossible to begin with we're all pretty stubborn and type-a we're goal-oriented individuals we don't want to see failure every year thousands of athletes travel to Penticton BC to test their stamina on the famous long distance triathlon track the course has hosted many elite races including North America's first Ironman in 1986 this year triathletes will travel from 50 nations for the chance at a world title as a kid I did always wanted to be a professional athlete there's one point where my parents had to sit me down I was big into basketball and they're like you're probably not gonna make it into the NBA focus on your studies and maybe in hindsight I should have been skipping class and running a bit more I did my first race in 2012 the night before I was sure I was gonna drown in the water I used to run just to kind not get that like most kids you know who's in universities I was involved in a car accident when I was 26 years old doctors like oh no he can't run right now and he's like well you can always like swim I said I don't know how to swim so he's like well now it's a good time to learn my husband worked for Sport Chek at the time and tried to convince me on the day of Ironman to go down and watch it Ironman what's Iran okay well I'm not doing anything today so I might as well rode my bike down there and I was like holy cow like what what is this covering 140 miles including a 2.4 mile swim a 112-mile bike and finishing with a full marathon just to complete this race is an achievement it never crossed my mind that I would be a professional athlete I started running in in high school and kind of took that running passion for running to university I ran 3,000 meter steeplechase which is an event that takes you know around nine minutes so I come back in the summer and people would ask say hey or you can do Ironman this year and I'd be like no like my event is nine minutes not nine hours and there's no swimming or biking involved and it always kind of looked at me and give me the same like not tough enough I was a couch potato for 60 years watched an Iron Men and I had that stupid thought while I was watching it that I could do that it was really good energy here for this kind of training maybe it's contagious after years of watching Simon's decided to volunteer at Ironman Canada I was the guy that rides his bike in front of the third-place male on that day there was a guy Simon Lessing that was considered like the best in the world he was a great swimmer great biker and just a phenomenal runner one of the best runners in the sport but the beauty of the Ironman is he just cracked he blew up and so me being out there in front of the third-place male I got to see like the roadside view of this meltdown and he's puking in the bushes so I'm gonna end up getting passed but I think two or three people in the last like 2k section up and down Lakeshore I just came away with this idea and I think age is seeing the race firsthand and seeing how these are just people and you could be one but more so just this like idea that on any given day at an Ironman everybody has a chance of the title I didn't know I wanted to race as a professional at that point I just knew I wanted to be a part of it and do more of that you know just that epic feeling you get when you finish something you know that's as tough as a triathlon found myself super emotional over just watching all these people of all ages and sizes like it was just absolutely phenomenal once I learned what the distances were I was just like I want to do this one day this is awesome but then a week or two went bought a road bike and rode to Oliver and back which was like 75 K my first time ever on a road bike I think I just spoke killed myself but it to guarantee her success at swimming one year in advance Daisy signed up for a triathlon it's kind of petrifying thank goodness it was a pool swim and I remember showing up in Italy hey where's the recreational Lane and there was like what are you talking about I was like closely I came second lost in the entire race because how I didn't come dead loss is there was girl who had a SWAT so it was a very humbling experience generally speaking I have this kind of stubborn streak in me that's like no I'm not gonna give up I'm not gonna give up oh those hills from there on and go a little further and further that's how I started my career you know my hobby I guess as a triathlete at 62 years old Jorge completed his first triathlon I started from zero and on the swim and the bike in the Rondon but I went anyway and survived and the swim wasn't great but I got through the bike and run and was sort of fun and it just kept going motivation though I I don't know where that comes from I never had it before I retired well I love about sport and what ring really brings people back and keep coming is that it's it's so tough and you face adversity and toughness and that's toughness in the training and you have to do the training it's not a sport you can just drop yourself into an Ironman and I hope it's gonna go well you have to do the training even just to complete it and it's such a long day that something's bound to go wrong and somewhere in those rough patches you have to as I say get ugly but you have to like find something inside of you some kind of resolve to like get through that you're able to dig down and find something to overcome not it's super rewarding it's like you just get this this feeling like you can do anything and it's kind of the the drug that keeps us addicted to Teresa having no idea where this sport would take her Jan Annette chose to test her stamina at Penticton Ironman Canada I signed up for Ironman in 2008 having never done a triathlon before no fancy gear whatsoever adjust like super old-school just not your what you would typically I see one making age category right off the bat and I was like oh wow like this is awesome the race qualified myself for the World Championships in Hawaii I mean I got hooked ever since then kind of finding something that I was good at by mistake or by surprise however you want to look at it incredible determination and extensive dedication is required to even finish a long distance triathlon last year I sort of thought I might stop doing this because I wasn't having fun I was just about halfway through the run and I just thought never again I'm not going to do this again if I'm had enough and before I even got back to the finish line I had already thought well maybe if they qualify me I'll take it and I did qualify so I'm back to race in this year's World Championships athletes must have qualified is either an age grouper or a professional triathlete for me being a professional means that you're racing the best in the world if you're a hockey player you've got 82 games a year to kind of prove your Worth and to kind of have some good games and they average out in our sport you know you might only do two or three ironmans a year you really got to make yours count and I've been been able to do that I don't want to say the word I've been lucky cuz it's been a lot of hard hard work put into it but I guess maybe I've been fortunate that I've had a few really good races over the years that have kind of put me into the spotlight and really helped to you know to advancement from a sponsor point of view and also to win some prize money at these events both amateur and professional athletes will race on the same course at the same time we've done one Ironman that's it and that was in 2013 and I don't think I'll do another one until maybe when I retired because it consumes so much time right it's just a holding full-time job and then do not it's just I don't know how other people do it think they do it year after year after year and they do sometimes - a year it's just I just don't know how they do it I just find it I get to off balance in my life that my focus is just triathlon training and really easily been dream and everything about it I'm like oh god I can't do this I am a financial analyst for Enbridge we don't typically do a lot of training I go buy more of quality versus quantity my weekdays are pretty well at most hour and a half after winning her age group at her first Ironman a net qualified to race at the World Championships in Kona Hawaii as an amateur athlete it was my last longer ride before going to Hawaii so yeah it was seven or eight days before I was just coming back from all over down on South Main and car was turning right and I'm not even sure if they even looked they pulled up right beside me and I was traveling about 30 35 K an hour I don't know how people don't see cyclists but we're invisible sometimes unfortunately and turned right in front of me and I team owned it with my head shattered my helmet and had a big bowling ball sized contusion on my hip I'm a very stubborn age high personality person and I'm like no trips paid for its booked I don't care what I'm feeling like I'm gonna go and do the race and had it set in my head that this opportunity may never ever happen again my goal was to make it to the finish line in daylight the racer is in October so the days are quite short I did it was dark ish when I came in but Jen returned home and learned that the injuries from her accident were more severe than realized I developed epilepsy started having seizures I've actually suffered from moderate brain damage because of the amount of seizures that I've had just feel like I can't do things the way I should be able to do them I couldn't bike by myself I couldn't definitely couldn't swim by myself couldn't even sit in a bathtub case I had a seizure in the water I there was no way I'd be able to do this for it it felt like my life had ended at that point Jeff Simon's would soon become a recognized name in the professional racing world in 2011 I was third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship kind of really put me on the map and put me on the map as someone that has you know potential to to compete for a World Championships but even more so than the financial point of view from that one and the sponsorship and the recognition is more about the belief in myself going into that point I was kind of it that like I believed in myself but you're almost like questioning that like you know like I think I can do I think I can be you know at that level in the world but am I really just using as an excuse to put off a real job and it was kind of like once I hit that it was like undeniable that you know that I had the ability and I guess it worked ethic to make this happen most athletes train for at least one year prior to attempting this race last year in my training hours I totaled just over 500 hours for the entire year swimming biking running I think there will be a little more of a run focus this year then last year and I want to also push a little harder on the bike with the swim I can't gain a whole lot of time I look at every race it's a race against myself and that's where I feel more accomplished in that way and so far it's worked you know I've been able to go to this World Championship so I mean is there an HP pair so and we just most of us just do it for fun you can't be training all the time so I kind of do other different things like snowshoeing in the winter and downhill skiing cross-country ski doing the same thing over it gets a little bit tedious and boring I'm filling my water bottle getting ready to go for my long bike ride it's gonna be hot one so I make sure I have enough salt tablets and everything too because it's gonna be so hot the hardest part is more in the lead up we're in our sport it's all about doing the preparation it's about doing everything that sets you up to have these amazing days and those are the times when you're doing the savage workouts or just making the sacrifices and doing the things you need to get there you probably ride three two maybe up to 500k for me a week and you probably swim about 15 to 20 K biggest runs you get up to two and half hours that gets pretty close to 40 K yeah I probably got eighty kilometers a week I guess that'd be you know kind of two marathons it's yeah it's harder than it sounds I mean everyone has up days and down days Jim was forced to adapt to a new way of life I've gone through a lot of stuff mentally within the last I would say 10 or 12 years that I think has shaped me into the person I am now looking at it now I do understand why those things were said but at that time it was absolutely devastating to me I was also trying I couldn't have a kid there would be something wrong with that kid because of the risks with medication I'm like everything that I love in life is gone now so I went through a couple of really really bad years with my seizures they were under control and ended up having a son and he is perfect in all aspects so it's a that was a miracle that was a yeah my seizures actually got worse after I had him and went through a lot of medication stuff I saw a specialist in Vancouver went through a lot of testing with that and because of the amount of seizures that I've had I've actually suffered from brain damage so I do have a major short-term memory issue which has affected a lot of aspects of my life it's part of the reason why I had to go on a leave from a job that I was doing but it has actually made my horrible having found victory in this sport so early on Jen refused to let her injury stop her I have definitely overcome that I have found ways to make obviously make this sport work because otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here right now so open water swimming I'm never swimming in the lake by myself I always have somebody with me or watching me all my cards pool know my condition and that they should be watching me and during races so I get a different-colored swim cap and the swim support knows to watch for me I hate to say it but reality is if I have a seizure in the water with 2000 other people I'm not gonna survive that's just that is reality there's no way that there's no way around that biking I've obviously chosen to take that risk and running if I have a seizure while I'm running the worst it's gonna happen it's gonna be that's kind of the way I've overcome it I always look at the fact that there's many other people even in the sport that has way worse conditions and have overcome so many bigger things Michael ultimately is to encourage people to pursue their dreams and hopefully inspire people that's kind of my goal to kind of put everything together with what I've been through what I've been able to achieve and where I am today following several DNFs Simon's struggled to remain positive you know Jeff's had a he's had a tough year a lot of fronts a lot going on in his in his life personal life as well and and then you compound that with training stress load and it's it's it's hard to handle the key to having an Ironman is being able to have a lot of good days as opposed to having these really amazing days followed by these really crappy days and these really amazing days in these crappy days that's a hard way to really get that progression and gets that new level you've never been able to nail out some like unbelievable races but you know also had a few kind of Drive stretches of maybe injuries or are not performing as well so that kind of puts a bit more of the pressure on you to really step up to the plate and hit him out sometimes after having incredible times following her return to the sport Annette decided to take a shot at professional racing I think I tested the theory of you come back stronger after you've had a kid and I was in the best shape of my life by me there was a couple friends that were doing the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene and were like you know what you should really race at the pro level right why would I do that and thought it over and know why why not if I want to go back to Hawaii and I got to go back as a pro I'm gonna have to start to race these girls Jen's first professional Ironman did not go as planned it was 50 degrees that day it was when we had that massive heat wave that came through so there is like a 27% DNF rate for that race it was just horrific conditions I walked almost the entire marathon and it was like a walk try to take in something try to jog end up being sick to my stomach like it was just like a repetitive it was not a good experience I couldn't give up I didn't want to my coach was actually there was riding alongside me out on the Run course and he's like if you want to do Whistler you should really quit like I am not quitting like just leave me alone I'm not quitting finish the race and I'm like sign me up for Whistler I don't exactly look forward to getting up at 5:00 in the morning but once I get to the pool it's it's great you get in and go today we swam 2,400 meters it was it was tiring but it was really when I get out it really feels good this afternoon I'll be riding in a spin class just the feeling afterwards is really worth the whole thing it it just feels good [Music] to excel as a professional athlete Jen will need to dominate in all three areas of the race pretty sure the world knows that my swimming is not the strongest right now I'm in the pool five days a week really focusing on swimming I am at that point in my career that if I don't get better swimming it is going to negatively affect my race results juggling this level of training is a challenge within itself some days way to take more freight to kill two birds with one stone is I commute with my bike in so I get a workout going in and then I bike home also and I do it on my old clunker about life so that I just you know make more effort and then on the weekend I just get on my real quick it makes it that much easier so yeah because commuting calvaria can be a nightmare balancing training and life and racing is it definitely has its challenges it's I mean it's hard we definitely work as a team together between my husband and myself yeah day-to-day life is pretty chaotic but yeah it's basically just working together as a team and family is always a priority as is training but family always comes first okay there's been many many many times that I've ran a half marathon before six o'clock in the morning and then my husband goes to work and my son will go to daycare or I have him all day and then when my husband comes home from work then I go to the pool go swimming yeah we'll get your bike and we'll put it in the back earth we're going on a road trip I will set out two or three hours before my husband and my son leave and they'll pick me up somewhere along the way it's being chaotic and a lot of the time it is I kind of joked that our life is a crazy circus but we love it and at this moment wouldn't trade it for the world the World Championship scores will be monitored for technical infractions such as drafting drafting is when if I'm when I'm behind her what happens is she will create a car I win for me so I won't have to do as much work I won't have to pedal as hard to even stay with her I just might have to do a few pedal strokes so in the triathlon some are draft legal but the one that we're about to do is non draft legal so Amy is in front of me so if she is right there I cannot be closer than this string if I was to pass her I need to pass her if I stay behind her for more than 25 seconds it's considered drafting and there'll be a penalty right now I don't feel as ready as I should be partly because I think just busy I just toast less than a month and it's making me nervous because I'm hoping I'll be ready soon despite having a rough year Jeff's favored to win this year's championship in Penticton definitely the more bigger results you have you know it's for yourself and other people what might have been a great result say 3 years ago might just be like whatever now it definitely raises my bar of expectations and then also just other people's expectations it can be pretty overwhelming and the training load for a pro athlete is very very high this race in particular in hometown World Championships you know he's felt a lot of pressure and you know it's been hard for him to handle that and deal with that Jeff's as human as they come he said a very emotional guy wears his heart on his sleeve that's partly what makes him so great that's probably what makes him so tough when you know in in the hard moments because he can really dig you know deeper than a lot of people can but everybody has their breaking point and I think it's been really hard for him this year when you accumulate everything part of the pressure I feel is just to keep having that progression and better and better each race which is kind of unrealistic there's an old map of like what success looks like and what you want it to look like looks like this and what actually looks like is a bit of a George's biggest challenge in finishing the race will be making the time cut-offs with little time to the big day he meets with his coach to strategize you know you've got to average you need to average in that 23 to 24 kilometres an hour right right we talked about you know in terms of pacing in cut-offs you need to be up there I'm really slow on everything you know a moment ago you talked about how important it is for you to run the run well you won't get to do the run if you don't make that right cut off yep time cut offs are put on each portion of the race an athlete must finish the swim in an hour 40 be off the bike by 2 p.m. and has 12 hours to cross the finish line failure to meet these will result in disqualification what from a nutrition standpoint you want to get in as much as possible at a change station from or getting to the finish line standpoint you don't want to stop and be putting drinks in cups all right you just don't want to stop you don't want to walk because it's so hard to get going again and it's going to be hard to get going again I find sometimes just the anticipation of waiting is the hardest thing the pros running multiple races throughout their season must be extremely aware of their training versus recovery ratios this is a bit of a tough time for me because I adjusted Ironman Canada and Whistler less than two weeks ago and I've got I t's coming up in just over two weeks so it's this kind of recovery trained paper is definitely challenging why it's in the hands of my coach that's why I have a coach is to kind of guide me through doctah or at this time my ride actually went really good this morning I did about 70 K so I just actually went out part of the ITU course of how my body felt after doing Ironman Canada less than two weeks ago actually it felt really good so reassuring that hopefully my body is coming around and this isn't just a little bit of a teaser lie maybe that I'm not quite ready but no it was good now I'm going for a run I got a 50 minute run so should be about I don't know 11 12 K depending on how the legs are feeling [Music] the caliber of both professional and age group or athletes will be high as it is a world championship race winning here would be amazing I would be awesome to have Jeff and myself as a repeat winners but it's going to be a very competitive build well it's it's it's a huge race there's no question I mean it's the World Championship and it's in our hometown the race here will definitely be a high caliber she's gonna go art there's no question there's not gonna be any holding back we're not holding air on a leash is she's just gonna try to have a good go at it when it comes down to it it's who's there and how your day goes and how everybody else is Bigelow's for that matter Jeff's results have not improved and he begins to crack under the pressure of the looming championships yeah just terrible terrible years so and then followed by two weeks ago it was pretty good and then I got a bit of an injury and I'll just kind of there's been some hard moments for that guy didn't kind of come together like I'd hoped no regrets really on it I mean if you say what's gone wrong it's not like I mean maybe lots of little things along the way but I mean you know we set the goal high and we swung for it and you know the goal wasn't just to kind of do the best you can right like you we're going for it we were trying to you know you look at where I raised and you know we made some bad choices I you know chose to stay in Vancouver when it was pretty crappy weather all winter and kind of was behind the 8-ball and we didn't back down we went to I mean we flew halfway around the world twice to Cannes and Frankfurt lining up against the best races and the best people and you know unfortunately I wasn't didn't have what I needed on those days to make it happen but we kept kind of plugging away and now I mean it's I'm kind of a home run hitter right and if your home run here you swing for the fences and sometimes you're gonna crank it out the park and life is good and other times you're gonna do you're gonna miss horribly Jeff probably had the perfect storm of some stuff in his personal life as well as you know a couple races that maybe don't go well I've had a lot of DNF meltdowns this years I mean in this for anyone they're always weighing up you know the decision to push harder to keep going versus their motivation to do it and the thing is is your motivation is based on qualifying for Kona or pleasing sponsors or getting a result that can disappear pretty quickly if you're having a bad day things we we always look at it as purely a physical thing but I you know there's a there's other components to not only being an athlete but also being a human being you gotta find a reason and a purpose for your suffering and when you don't have an answer for that then what's the point then you just pull the pin say go to the next one if I have that mindset and going on Sunday it's probably gonna be another meltdown in another DNF know if you got a good rhythm in your life and you feel good and I don't say happy because it's not about being rainbows and unicorns about everything but certainly if you're at peace and you're at ease with stuff it's easier to kind of handle the the harder moments it's tough when it's like you know this is a one-time thing in your hometown and you know you don't show up kind of with the the tools that you need to do well it's it's probably just gonna make it more embarrassing if I'm not hitting where I'm capable of but definitely leading up I mean this race has always been a huge being kind of the local favorite and all that it's been a huge amount of pressure he's been through a lot and I think maybe you know the pressure of this particular event in his hometown as has been you know overwhelming at times yeah it definitely feels more like going to an execution than a celebration that's for sure but yeah well I mean that's how it is right like I'm not gonna come here and vs it and be like oh yeah I'm going out there's gonna be great and then afterwards like I don't know what happened it's like you know it's like they are like could they say in the art of war like the battles won long before you get there and it's like conversely the bauhaus crowd have been lost so how he does physically is gonna be a direct result of how he starts mentally if he can arrive at the start with you know just focusing on himself and what he has to do and his executables and his sort of desire to just do the very best that he can I think it'll go well but he's got to get to the start with that frame of mind and if he doesn't I don't know what's going to happen after making the drive from Calgary Daisy arrives in Penticton with two days to prepare we drove used to be strove here from Calgary today so it's been a long drive we've got we're on the road eight o'clock so seven o'clock local time and it's just a while fire that was going on just outside Kelowna so people were you know rubbernecking and slowing down so it was pretty crazy two days of rest and then we go and race so many banks I feel like I'm a bag lady every time I do one of these you got a carry like you know your wetsuits and then your I don't know everything and then of course the Canadian kit everything is in here for Team Canada Road in it the other day test it out and it was like didn't give me my little girly bits any problems so I'm happy with that that's very important [Music] so this is what we eat before race day as race day approaches contending athletes must pick up the race packages and attend a briefing on the rules of the course it's our numbers our bid for the bike and run and swim cap just anything that we need to get set up and ready to race on Sunday along with becoming fit and healthy George has seen a huge difference in his life one of my new training mat things is coffee I go for coffee four times a week socializing more there's just a really positive vibe about the training and the racing and the whole thing his wife has also become involved in his new lifestyle when I go on my long five-hour bike rides she comes with me in the car and just follows and she's got water and food and stuff on the way and she works in the package pickup and she likes working with the athletes and helping them and it's pretty neat I was gonna cry but then I thought well then I'd hurt ya know you wouldn't know that I'm just a shy quiet guide by what I just know I was talking talking talking athletes begin to taper their training leading up to the race the decrease in training is a hard adjustment both mentally and physically when I get into taper I feel awful it's I will have the worst training days ever it feels like I'm running a sprint and I'm barely even moving like it's just it you have those days they do affect me mentally more than they should so for me it's a battle of just reminding myself but the more I am training the more bad days I'm gonna have more good days I'll have as well but it's just reality kind of aspect for me is just not beating myself down for those bad bad sessions that's a great year already three or four podium finish a very busy season with a lot of race after this also so it's a great season it's a development season and she's learning a lot and this week I cover e is probably my weakest point just cuz I'm so busy as a mum that my recovery usually gets put on the back burner trying really really really hard right now to focus on getting proper sleep she's raising a lot of girls on our very experiment been some of the best in the world and I think both of us I excited to see how that's gonna turn out with one day to go George heads out on his last swim George has come a long way with his swimming he's seems very comfortable in the water he's got a nice long swim stroke and he he looks pretty good it's he's spent a lot of time working on efficiency this is a really a personal challenge for George and his real races he's against the clock and within himself like he's got a race to the rules and there are rules for cut-offs he's got to be on out of the swim of this within a certain time and he's veldt well aware of that and get off the bike within a certain time so the swim bike cutoff is something he's gonna be very concerned with you know when you're about to start this swim in this race you'd want to just think how far you've come like you belong there you've qualified to be there and you know just how how you've prepared well for this like everything you do with your training is going about this day and you're as well prepared as you could go George Daisy Jeff and Jenn settle in for an early race start tomorrow for the race and it's just the last kind of final preparations might go for a quick swim just to kind of chill out feel good and other than that just get ready to roll so really the goal for tomorrow we kind of reframed it instead of you know worrying about the place so much it's just gonna be go out there and trying to be the ugliest competitor out there just trying to hurt more than everybody else as race day arrives the athletes head down to the start line for their long-awaited shot at a world title [Music] Jeff will show up because underneath all the stuff he's going through there's a guy who's he's a champion underneath that he's shown that many times in races he's showed up at races that you know he's really had to gut it out to either get a win or get a placing that's awesome it's got to get this guy on the start line it's very nerve-racking I won't lie to you because you know you don't know what to expect I did not come from a swimming background that is still very nerve-racking and especially with all the people like that so I get really nervous about that this boretz is very much a mental sport if you're if your head is not in it you're gonna have a very hard time succeeding or even finishing you can be 99% fit if that 1% of your head is not in the game chances are you're not gonna make it because my crucial I've got to get through it to make my cutoff time and it's gonna be time to mentally prepare I do a lot of visualization I know the course really well I can virtually imagine myself at any point on the race the success of an event of this magnitude heavily relies on community and volunteer support we actually did against us cities in Denmark or of the asia-pacific and so we were chosen and I think partly because we have this rich tradition of hosting triathlon you know it is I think part of that iconic course because we have the vineyards the lakes scenic views of the country roads but I think really is very supportive community and this volunteer army that comes out in droves and I think that's one thing that makes em tick them kind of special the race has a wave start beginning with the pros and followed by each age group the men's elite start is first and Jeff Simon's heads to the line everyone deals with adversity there's no like you know perfect training there's always going to be things that are gonna happen [Music] underneath the turmoil that that guy's going through right now is a guy that's really willing to put himself on the line and really willing to hurt to get to get a good result he's got the intangible stuff that you look for in athletes that which is an ability to really hurt when it counts no he's tougher to anybody when he's actually racing Jin's group is next to begin y'all have our doubts and dark moments and I'm such a perfectionist ik person I expect to put in my best effort and have the best outcome all the time [Music] I came out of the water last year at the race here ii lost so i had a lot of time to try to make up i've always gone in with the mindset but the race cannot be one team in the swim so as long as i'm do decent and i can make up the time on the bike and the run then i'll finish fairly well now the level that i'm racing that swimming is making a huge difference with the pros out george's group is called out because well it's like going to the dentist it's fine when it's done but the anticipation is hard sometimes george my biggest advantage is self-confidence i i've never had the thought that i can't finish [Music] [Music] after months of anticipation and training daisy is finally ready to enter the water you kind of pack your little panicky I find it's the first kilometer but once I get into that rhythm I'm like okay this is it now the athletes have one hour and 40 minutes to complete the three kilometer swim the swim I was just it was the same thing as it's been all year I just mentally was not into it [Applause] Jeff Simon's is ready to head out on the bike course late in the swim in 40 minutes and 40 seconds the direction of the swim course is causing some visibility issues with the Rising Sun when we first came around that first turn I couldn't see four feet I asked a guy on a paddle board where which way do we go and he pointed with his paddle I couldn't see the paddle and that was only like six feet away I did then just then see just a glimpse of the buoy and headed that way with a quick transition Jeff Simon's is ready to head out on the bike course the weakest part is husband lost a little bit up in the bike I've definitely won races on the bike at the iron distance but but that's the one that I'm you know that they putting in the extra work for sure 45 minutes in 20 seconds into a race Jen completes the swim eager to get out onto the bike course Melanie MacLean found herself a little back of the field there but she's a greater biker as his Jen Annette in fact there was six seconds separating them at the end part of the swim performance physically I would say my advantage is my biking Jen is definitely one of the best rider in the world but we definitely are moving or two guards being a world-class runner so that's where for her to have success it's about running very very well and that's gonna be just strategy also in this race to really make sure that we're not only using our strengths but that we're we're leaving a lot for the run I go to hard life and I know I'm not gonna have a good run I think I'm definitely well known now for being able to track down the majority of the field on the bike within the last year year and a half I've been within the top two or three every race that I've done okay so I got 45 25 for the swim I know that I can make up a lot of time on the bike but if I go too hard in the bikes and I know I'm not gonna have a good run with the pros out of the water the AIDS groupers start to come in George is coming out of the swim in good shape in about an hour ten [Music] right behind him is Daisy having now completed her worst part of the day her swim went pretty good she aim for an hour and she end up doing an hour eight thirty so that's not bad at all considering the massive pack that was out there swim was a little bit confusing because I had a hard time siting says little slower the swim is her least dominating aspect of triathlon but you have to accept that that you're never gonna be dominate all three I think she'll make a lot of time up on the run she's a really strong runner as the swim course closes the rest of the athletes head out on their 120 kilometer bike ride and again just a reminder each of the athletes in order to have been able to complete and move on to the bike there to complete the swim within a 1 hour 40 minutes but today this is the serious business of course for these athletes and we get we've got over 1,300 people on the course right now my advice to George you out on the bike course would be eat drink and just keep going don't waste any time like and that's where it's at it should be the same for everybody and so you're going to plan for a 30 kilometer run this afternoon in the heat you can't afford to start that dehydrated I'll take in 400 calories an hour you don't eat enough you can be in a world of hurt I try to consume about probably on average about 150 to 200 calories per arm based on my Payton weight fast and furious in the men's division a lot of people are hoping that they could see Penticton is very own chef Symons through a reminder he came up there swim in 17th position out on the bike course Geoff's race takes a positive turn putting him back into contending yeah there was it down like a rolling hill back into town and that being the local I rolled out a bunch and kind of focus on you know how can I ride this was it going to feel like and some guys that had dropped me pretty good on the hill I was able to catch back up and it was that kind of that moment where it's like is it gonna be a good one or is it good in average one and I was kind of like alright I'm inside of these guys I'm still in it and mentally it was just a huge boost Jen has managed to make up significant time on the bike she's made up I think about six positions so far there might be a few scared women out there it was me on the bike as Jeff pushes through the last few kilometers on the bike Daisy reaches the top a challenging pass [Music] the ladies and gentlemen I believe Jeff Simon's from Penticton is about to hit the transition area we got more riders have made that right-hand turn off of Main Street five ever just done that we see an Aussie heading down there as well and Jeff Simon's is out on to the run ladies and gentlemen so he's in the top ten so far don't forget he was in 17th place at the end of the swim so there he is he's in 10th place the local man and we you know this man can motor he knows the course well there's a ton of pressure on me for this race and and you can't really escape the pressure when your people are like are you still gonna win or you get a win and we got more athletes heading down Main Street making the right-hand turn here there's a stream of half-a-dozen athletes that have just coming on through internet if that was number 47 it is indeed Jenner net is gone through there she is the lady who's made up ground you could imagine how could it feel swim a little bit of shade still there right now for these athletes but later on that some will be blistering there as Jen Annette goes out on the run seven minutes 54 seconds back of our lead but she is a strong runner as well now she's got to Sally spilled ni McBride Cape Edison were tell Crowley and Frederickson just ahead of her I believe therefore she's in ninth position let me get the other local Jeff Simon's was in tenth position going out on the run and we've just seen the top runner through this is absolutely stunning to see how things are unfolding here she can run believe me we never know what's going to happen when it comes down to the run portion some people where I might fall apart whether that's heat whether it's nutrition whether it's putting out too too much before going to age group athletes will be on the course for hours after the pros it is essential that they stay hydrated in this heat still fairly early in the morning the bike ride we're a few hours into the race already but it's only early like for someone who's going to take from 10 to 12 hours to complete this race it's a long day it's only early I think he'd be doing quite well with the heat right now but you do have to stay on top of your hydration afternoon Jeff has finished his first 10 kilometer lap and is making incredible time my strongest part by far is the run to be more exact it's the back half of the run so like the second half of the marathon or the you know for the IT world like the last 15k or where it's all kind of goes down where I can keep that pace whereas other people and as like to get it uglier real ugly and where other people start to fall off and I can that's where you can make a big time after a quick bike time of 3 hours and 12 minutes Jen completes her first lap of the run looking strong haha the run always hurts I'm not a big fan of loop runs in general I think it just plays with my head you should be done and you still have one more to go [Music] so you can imagine how good it's going to feel for other riders to come in shortly riders that will be age groupers they all saw to be off the bike as well [Music] heading into the last ten kilometers Jeff strength shows as he pushes for the line just got it put everything you got and the counties off the gas you just got to go and you know hope that like mental you can pull away and it's new like I just know one thing about these races you just bury it to the line you worry about that later spike but there's Jeff Simon's he's looking good he's got 10k to go from this point on George's he's been out to Summerland on the bike and back through town so he's looking good feeling good and he's out on the first lap around skylights oh look at that if you look down on Lakeshore Drive there's a lady in red that is the Penticton ijen and it field is full of world champions great so I mean to be able to just to compete with them eyes an honor the bike was really good it was really is pretty beautiful around the lake like both lakes you got to go on the way out to some summer land they're gorgeous and it wasn't too cold I thought I'd be cold but oh my gosh beautiful and then you go up out to ska ha there's some hills but you know they're not like I'm manageable but they're just so pretty she's just finished a lot too so she's coming through she's smiling which is a good sign and Jeff Simonson looks like he's got Francisco Serrano right behind him and Serrano did a 301 34 bikes there so there's 16 minutes 40 seconds behind our leader though Jeff looking good since I had even okay race you know I had to kind of hit the bottom and kind of take a step back to start working my way back up the climb starting her final lap Jenn finds an extra boost from her fans we've had eight women through and look who's right beside the next mile that's about to come on in here is Jenna net from Penticton currently I believe in 9th position the ride itself fun because of so many spectators in that respect I like being local Jeff if he can have a fine final UK here he's within seven minutes of the next three gentlemen ahead of him and so it'd be great to see if he can get a top ten there today after a hard 11 months Jeff Simon Sprint's towards the finish line making his hometown proud I believe Jeff Simon's he's going to be top ten in the world he said third of the road of 70.3 the Penticton I with a fabulous run to life he overtook three people during the 30k Jeff Simon's he takes an eighth places in the money is in the frame 537 even the time for the great Penticton I will done Jeff absolutely amazing very proud of what that man has achieved here don't forget when it came to the swim he was in 17th position so between the bike and the ramp he ended up taking nine positions between the bike and the run when you're in an elite field like this he's got his friends he's got his family he's got his sponsors here at the line incredible to see we've got a local man amongst the top eight overall Symonds is back you know it's often a good year and it was a terrible last couple weeks physically and mentally and so to have a top eight in the world coming off all that I'm pretty stoked and really stoked and but more it's just I think this is going to set me up well for down the road and I know it just means a lot because I had to scrap for every little inch today it wasn't wasn't my ultimate best but it's my best effort a little bit even better races to come Dahlia is heating up and I'm talking about the weather I'm talking about conditions off of the bike Daisy starts on her favorite portion of the day I just loved the run I just feel so happy I've always got a this perma-grin when I'm running I just feel liberated because it's just me myself and no equipment so that is awesome and I was worried about drowning over six hours into the race George is giving all he has to make the bike cut off we'll be seeing in the next athletes the line in the women's elite division she's moved over to her right she goes past Michael Brown gets a high five and this is good I believe for a physician overall coming to the lion and this is the local so don't forget we had a top ten in the men's and we've now got an eighth position for ladies one the peach classic multiple times one the olive are pleased we know the top two and three a diamond Candice is one challenge that is Jenna net from Penticton the determined and inspiring Jenna net completes another great race picking eighth place that was a crazy women's field probably the toughest I've ever competed in so I mean all I could do is put it all out there and hope for the best so I mean relative to where I finished I think I did decent I mean obviously it's hot out and definitely feeling the fatigue from even from Whistler a month ago so okay how was a tough field so I mean so I did the best I could do and that's all that matters right so I there's women out there that I beat that I've lost you in the past and whether or not that's me having a better day and I'm having a bad day or my fitness improving it's hard to say so I'd like to say it's a bit of both but I mean the arse field was full of world champions so that's at the end of the day it's how we put our race together and I couldn't have ran any harder although the majority of the pros have completed the course the age groupers still have hours ahead of them it's more of a mental game when you start to do these long-distance so you have to like be mentally strong and just kind of be patient and break down in piecemeal cuz when you think the overall essence you're like thinking there's a humanity that's a lot of distance right but so I start to break it down by increments of ten K's and that's the only way I could do it like or else it would just become overwhelming George makes it off the bike with just enough time to get out onto the run just starting the run is hard now you get off the bike your legs are tired from the bike and now you've got this half marathon to do that yeah you got to do it one kilometer at a time Daisy heads into her second lap I think she'll be happy with whatever she does like it's just I think it's accomplishment just completing a course like this Daisy's perspective and I think a lot of athletes are similar it's just an accomplishment to finish this race you know it's been a long season so and a lot of training for a lot of people and especially like Daisy's to having a full-time job and trying to accommodate your personal schedule to get all this training in is dedication to say the least so yeah she'll be happy to finish it whatever time she gets I do like the run no matter what is still a beautiful run or like you know you still but it's just hot that's all and I think I'm not the only one that's being impacted I think I think the times I don't even know what the times are but I'm sure a lot of people didn't do PB [Music] motivation is a huge factor in completing one of these races last year when I ran into the transition room going from the bike to the run there was an older fellow there he was just finished and he just couldn't go on and he asked me what am I going to do and I said to him I can walk a long ways in four hours and he got up and he headed out just behind me and we both finished george has four hours to complete the 30 kilometer run and cross the finish line just seeing people who you know aren't really like fit but just have a determination to keep going and stuff like that and that's what I really get inspired by I'll never forget I was doing one of my first I think I'm half Iron Man's out in Silver Lake and this gentleman he was over 60 probably double my age or even more and I was like oh my goodness this guy still like racing and really enjoying it and leading a very fit lifestyle and I was like oh my god if I continue doing this I could probably still do that so whenever I'm kind of suffering through any of my races I think back to people who are doing those kind of things I'm like well you know what my race and that art after all [Music] I'm happy like just to finish on a day like today when you have tough like the heat like that all you want to do is just finish because you're just like I'm looking at my watch and I'm like you know forget it I just want to get to next Condor that's a station got someone else they're doing another lap out there but it's my four I one who's out there on the course that Sir George Radhika ten kilometres into the run George starts to struggle with the heat and the exhaustion the current temperature is 31 degrees and climbing you know ultimately the clock's ticking he's racing the clock and he's just gotta keep pushing and pushing on when he decides to run he can run and that's when he's making good time he's gonna stay positive in forcing himself to keep running getting it done soon as the runs started i was like oh i gotta get going but it was tough it was I have to admit it was when the hardest runs I ever done I'm in says we see jzc and the women's 4044 with an incredible race daisy sea has crossed the finish line [Music] just the bottom is so hot thank goodness there's a lot of ice but yeah this one the hardest run I think I've ever done just the hate [Music] very hot after racing for over 11 hours tears and encouragement help an exhausted George good to say that he's in good spirits like he might be hurting if they're buddies he seems reasonably positive given how long he's been going I knew a lot of people like there was a lot of people that I trained with so they were getting people to yell and so yeah there was a lot of people I don't know why so many but lots of people it does no not for long but it does help whether you are a professional athlete and complete this daunting challenge in six hours or an age group earth at fights to the bitter end for a finish finding the strength determination and courage to keep pushing is an unrivaled accomplishment create your cheese and it's like get ugly and and just do whatever it takes to get to the finish line that's what brings us all back because it's like you feel so empowered like you feel like if you can do that you can do anything if you look alongside the peach at this time you'll see there is another athlete on the way to the line but it looks as though it's tough going in the final few hundred meters and again you look up there we are now about a hundred and fifty meters away there's an athlete that will be appearing as shortly onto the carpet coming into the magical final few meters and again you can only imagine how good that feels [Music] here we go ladies and gentlemen I know this a gentleman and get ready to welcome him him call him on through to the finish so again our congrats to take on the event here in terms at the time in terms of the performance as well [Music] number five four eight one is the man who now hits the carpet to be wrapping things up for himself here's one of the great athletes in the men's 65 to 69 division and now George Radhika out of Canada makes his way through to a finish line congratulations George [Music] [Music] that was tough better than last year but it was hard yeah I don't feel much like a year old I'm very proud of no it's done awesome there was points where I was struggling just wishing it wasn't so much further to go but no I never I always finish well back in the back that's okay but it's never not finished at least as soon as you're done and you forget how bad it was that all you do is remember the good stuff otherwise you'd never sign up for it I think tomorrow I want to spend some time at Tim Hortons having a coffee sitting [Music] how are we doing snuck up on you you [Music] you

Channel: STORYHIVE

Views: 468,320

Rating: 4.8537536 out of 5

Keywords: storyhive, british columbia, alberta, local film, documentaries, triathlon, swim, bike, run, triathlete, tri, sport, documentary, motivation, Penticton, Calgary, film, ITU, World Championship, triathlon world, Ironman, pro athlete, pro triathlete, race, triathlon win, triathlon bike, triathlon run, triathlon season, Jeff Symonds, Jen Annett, British Columbia, Alberta

Id: QSD--A5TghA

Length: 68min 38sec (4118 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2018