A Before-Race Email to Friends and Family

Hello All!

Us before heading out of town!

Well, we have arrived in the beautiful area of Shawnigan Lake. It is a pretty darn peaceful place and I'm happy that we settled on it for our trip. Well, minus the fact that the lake is REALLY cold. 15-16 C. I'm a little worried about the swim for Sunday! I have a new goal, to complete the course without hypothermia. I'm serious about that!

We arrived yesterday after having a fun stop in Victoria. Went to the Rebar Modern Food Restaurant for dinner.

It is an awesome vegetarian/vegan, whole-foods spot. That was a treat. Last time we were there was around six years ago with baby Mina and Jenny! We have the cookbook. I got a little run down before the trip and have been fighting a cold so I was sure to dip into some garlic and a hearty smoothie. I'm hoping to feel well enough to race on Sunday. I wasn't expecting to spend so much energy on getting healthy before the race.

This area feels like a sleepy summer destination spotted with fancy private school campuses. It is pretty amazing. We passed a group of roughly 100 students on bikes today. They were with their teachers, on mountain bikes and going for some sort of a ride. We both would have been happy to do that when in high school!

This morning, we went to the triathlon headquarters (West Shawnigan Lake Park). Luckily we met the transition coordinator and I think the race director. The transition guy gave us a ton of helpful information. The race director wanted to know if the water was bearable. I told him that I did have second thoughts about the swim. :) It is COLD. But we have our wetsuits and I'm going to be wearing Rich's neoprene cap. We will swim again tomorrow which should help to ease the shock on Sunday morning. We did a short swim, came home and got warmed up with lunch, shower and a nice nap. Went back out and did one lap of our two lap (27 mile/40km) bike ride. The road quality is low. The transition guy warned us of that. The road piece will require keeping our eyes on the road's edge. It is a rolling course, so there is a lot of up and down but only one or two hills to remember. The bike is very pretty. We bike around the lake. Came home and went out the door for a light run. The area is pretty and lush with trees. Tomorrow we'll check out the actual run course, do the bike again and check out the pre-race festivities. There are somewhere between 500-600 people expected. 430 something have for sure registered on-line. Last year's weather was apparently much friendlier and the lake was much warmer.

We are staying at a resort right on the lake. It is so quiet. Has made for good sleeping so far! After the race, we plan on doing some longer bike rides, heading over to the race course for Rich's Victoria race next month and riding that, and swimming in that race lake (Elk Lake). We are enjoying trying out the BC wines and just taking some really nice unwind time. It is going to be easy to spend a week here total!

Thankfully the kids are having fun with Grandma and Grandpa Lander. Miles and Mina both transitioned really well which put our hearts at ease. I think that the goodbye might have been the hardest on me!

Please hope for good race vibes for both of us and good race weather for Sunday!

With thanks and joy,

Annie and Rich

Soon-to-be participants of the Shawnigan Lake Olympic Triathlon 2010