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Mother Nature had the last say on the last day, as Ironman Canada turned into a duathlon.
The water, that was too hot for a wetsuit swim at the Peach Classic, was deemed too cold the morning of the race. Sara True of the USA won the female event. On the male side, it was Canada’s Lionel Sanders who won it.
In our short interview, Lionel tells us about his 1st experience using a heart rate monitor in an Ironman, his take on the Nike supershoes, and his challenges with nutrition.
It’s Ironweek again (for the last time?) in Penticton.
There are no forest fires, pandemics, or comets heading toward the Okanagan to cancel it this year. But there is a pro race, in fact there are both men’s and women’s pro races, something that hasn’t happened here in decades.
On the men’s side, the field is impressive with Canadian pros like Jameson Plewes, Cody Beals, and Lionel Sanders, but without a doubt most of the chalk on the sidewalk and cheers from the fans will be for local Jeff Symonds (known as Mr. Symonds to his students).
There’s been some big changes in his life since he last won the race here back in 2022, he’s now married, a father, and a full-time teacher. Balancing all that with training for Ironman as most of y’all know is incredibly challenging.
In our interview we talk about the changes not only in his life but also about the multiple elephants in the room, namely: his future in triathlon, the future of triathlon in Penticton, supershoes (!), and how much tougher it is today to be a professional triathlete in Canada.
Listen to our no-holds-barred interview below!
It’s been a great couple of weeks for sports in Canada. Not only did we win both gold medals in the hammer throw at the Paris Olympics, locally we had some big news as well.
Over in the Okanagan, Penticton pro triathlete Jen Annett set the all-time female record for an ultra-distance triathlon. She did the Ultraman Canada in 21 hours and 39 minutes. Just how long is an ultra? Day 1 is a 10k swim and a 160k bike. Day 2 is a 270k bike. Day 3 is a double marathon – that is 84k! On top of all this, the Canada course is one of the toughest there is.
In our finish-line interview, we review her record-setting performance and find out what the future holds for her.
For the past few episodes of Fitspeek we have been going over last weekend’s Ultraman Canada race in Penticton.
As we have written, local triathlete Jen Annett set the world record for that distance. She of course had a lot of help along the way. In this Fitspeek we introduce you to two of the key members of her team! Listen to their take on the weekend in this podcast interview.
