Nathan Veldhoen

Took off friday night with the camper in tow, and headed for the Walmart in Penticton.  Got in @ 11 and crashed there for the night, even though they have signs everywhere with by-law crap on it.  Other then a few groups of drunken kids walking through, we had a good sleep, and hit the road.

We took off @ about 8am with the sun and course ready for us.  Goal is to ride the whole 180km ironman course,  and still have some energy for a run on the Sunday.  Slugged it out and finished up at about 2, and was so happy to get off my bike.  Felt really good til about 120km and then had to fight it from the Bear fruit stand back to Penny.  In the short time that I have been cycling, I am really starting enjoy it, the distances and  scenery you cover is awesome.

Two solid weeks of training before Oliver half Iron, looking forward to another race.   It will be a great learning and test for me.

Here is a great write up on the course.

Walmart morning

Traded straight up for this hog

First Fuel up stop @ the husky in Osoyoos

Looking forward to a busy year, with a few things on the list to get ready for,  half-marathon in February, Full marathon in May, and  one maybe two half Ironmans in June and July with the Ironman in August.  The two major focuses are, another try at a Boston qualifier in Vancouver on May 2nd and a solid finish to the Ironman in Penticton on August 29th.  I’m looking at a top 100 finish for the Ironman but wouldn’t really know where I stand until I finish a half Ironman.  A 10 hour 15 minute race gets close to that list but might be a bit quick…I guess time will tell.

I’ll be using the Heart and Stroke Foundation to raise some money, and will be hopefully getting some shirts made up in the near future with a section for donation off this site.  Should be a fun and eventful year with some excitement mixed in.

Had a weekend that didn’t have me booked up so I decided to kick myself into gear.  I needed to get a long run in (for Vegas) and also wanted to get a solid start on riding the old bike.  I picked a hell of a Saturday to do it, with hail and some good down pour sessions.  Some people might have heard me dropping f-bombs in the early afternoon after riding into a few hail storms.  All in all was a nice long day of training and felt pretty good.

I have been getting pretty board of the usual training routes and sessions, so I thought I would get a little more creative.  I headed to the pool  out in Walnut Grove for an 8:30 start , did a 40 minute swim.  Drove out to 232nd and the number 1 hwy and left my truck there.  Suited up for a 31km run back to my house.  Once I got to my house I hucked some food and water in me and headed out on a 32 k bike ride.  The whole thing took almost 5 hours but was a nice little saturday.  Oh and the sun came out right when I hoped off my bike.  Awesome….

On the way home just after jumping into the truck. Never found the gold.

The Finish to the day. Sun rolling in.

Clouds moving out

As of yesterday I officially finished sign up for Ironman in Penticton.   (already paid in August but now have all my info)  I almost forgot to do it, September went by so quick, just remember during a long training run on the weekend…oops.

I did also manage to find myself a bike, indoor trainer and pedals,to get myself started.  I also picked up, the apparently super important, bike shorts,  can’t wait to find out how sore my ass will get. Getting pretty  pumped to get a few good rides before the ugly weather comes.

Did the old craigslist hunt and grabbed, everything for 800 bucks.  (bike, shoes,pedals and trainer)   I wasn’t too pumped about getting a super expensive bike without even riding before, so hopefully this one will get me started.  We will see if I will need to get a new bike by spring.

Kona Haole-- had a compter with it too.

Fairly new trainer for indoor riding.

Da Shoes

Headed up to Penticton Once again this weekend, this time for the ironman.  Had a friend in it last year and watch him conquer that bitch.  He skipped this year but him and I and a few others went up to watch and sign up this year.  Great weather, good time, and pretty pumped up for next year.  Camped in the line up over night so we could make sure we would get our spot.

600 dollars for 3.8kms of swimmin, 180kms of bikin, and the old 42.2kms of runnin.  The worse 600 dollars I ever spent.  I plan on doing some fund raising with this stupid adventure and bloggin as much interesting info as possible.

Unfortunately this year one man die in the events 27 year history.  A 60 plus man died of a heart attack just after the swim.  I am seriously thinking about using the heart and lung foundation as my charity of choice, but I am  open to suggestions as well.