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Today!

Day two in Penticton, four days until the Ironman.

We spent today getting to know Penticton and the race course.

We got up early and went down to Lake Okanagan to try to get a sense of what the lake looks like at 7am. Today, at least, it was calm, clear and comfortable. The water temperature was close to perfect – maybe a little bit warm, but close enough. The water is really clear and tastes pretty good. We did an easy 20 minute swim. My goggles were fogging up a lot, which is a bit of a problem. They are a bit old and I’ve done a fair amount of ocean swimming in them, so I wonder if the seal is going bad. I’m going to try again tomorrow and try a pair that Mike has offered to loan me, but, if worse comes to worse, there are plenty of opportunities to buy new goggles here.

After the swim, we drove the bike course. (Actually, the first half of the run course follows the first 13 miles of the bike course, so we saw that as well.) It was a nice drive and I’m really relieved to have gotten that out of the way. Here is the elevation profile from the website:

You can probably understand why, based on the profile, I was pretty scared of the two big climbs on the course. It looks like sections of both climbs are straight vertical!

After driving it though, my impression is that the scale on this diagram is a little screwy and it’s not nearly as scary as it looks. Those “really big” climbs are each only about 1,000 feet. From the drive, I’d say it’s not as hilly as Placid and it’s nothing even close to the hills we’ve been riding in the Malibu canyons. A lot of the course seems fairly flat, but from the profile online, some of those are false flats. Either way, I’m confident that it will be a good course for me. It doesn’t seem like a very technical course either. I should be a little careful about what I write though – a “not bad” bike course is a lot different in the middle of an Ironman! Also, there is absolutely no shade and I’ve heard it can get windy in some sections, so there’s that. The course rolls through wine country, most of the time following the course of a river or the shore of a lake. It’s really pretty.

This picture is from about the half-way point on the bike course. Pretty typical of the course – vineyards and fruit orchards are all over the area:

These pictures are from the 120km point, at the end of a little out-and-back section near Keremos, where the special needs bags will be:

After driving the course, we went for a little run around downtown Penticton. As of the afternoon, the town is starting to fill up with triathletes. I’m guessing tomorrow will be a zoo!

Finally, it was time to put my feet up, read and take a solid nap. After a big, delicious dinner tonight, Drew came by and dropped off my bike and gear bag.

Schedule for tomorrow: early morning swim, check out the expo, ~30 minute bike ride, haircut, registration.

Swim – August 26
Distance: 1,000 yards
Time: 20 minutes
Location: Lake Okanagan, Penticton, Canada

Run – August 26
Distance: 3.8 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Course: Downtown Penticon, Canada
Conditions: Sun and clouds, low 70’s