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Now that 2024 is well underway, it’s time to take a look at the year from a very Canadian perspective. Joining us on the podcast is the editor for Triathlon Magazine, Kevin Mackinnon.
We look at the newly announced T100 Triathlon Tour (NOT coming to a town near you), the Olympic Triathlon, as well as some of the rising multisport stars in our country. Press play to get the details.
With us well into a brand year, it’s time to bid 2023 goodbye. It was a great year for endurance sports performances as guests Bruce Wenting and Roy McBeth have elaborated on.
We close out our series on the top performances with a chat featuring Larry Ryan. He is the host of 515: The Ultra Podcast so of course there will be an ultra focus on this one.
Larry also talks to us about his exciting new Ultra Trifest Canada event. If you have ever wanted to challenge yourself with an ultra, Whistler is the place to be on the August Long Weekend. Hear our conversation by pressing play below.
This black beauty is the all-new all-road bike by our friends at A2. It’s at home just as much doing the Yamhill Loop in Oregon as it is doing the dykes along the Fraser River. Click on the link to configure your machine.
Regular Fitspeek contributor Roy McBeth had a very eventful 2023, perhaps a bit too eventful? On the downside, he had a serious crash on his bike in the spring and was unable to race in any of the events he registered for.
On the upside he retired and moved with his family to a great new home in the Okanagan, where he can explore the outdoors to his desire now that he has recovered from his injuries.
On this week’s podcast, Roy goes “all-in” as an Okanagan local, as he gives us his top 3 endurance sports performances of the year. The pictures at the top of the page reveal the names but Roy gives us the details. Hear them by pressing play below.
Named as one of the “Best Bikes of 2021” by Triathlete Magazine. The RP is designed as a category killer for both road and tri. From the 2.5kg frame to the aerodynamics, this bike proves that you don’t have to sacrifice performance for a great price. You can have it all. Click on the bike to find out more.
As we bring 2023 to an end, it’s time to reflect on outstanding athletic performances in endurance sports.
The 1st contributor is a pillar of our community and a frequent Fitspeek guest. He is also largely responsible for helping one of this year’s storymakers get her start in professional cycling. Hear Bruce Wenting’s articulate and insightful contributions by pressing play below.
If you are getting into endurance sports, specifically triathlon, one of the decisions you’ll be making is what kind of bike should you be riding. Here’s some helpful information to guide your purchase – yep, just click on those bikes above.
This past October we saw the 1st ever all-female Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. On the program this week we have 3 of the folks who were competing in this historical event, Jen Burns from Abbotsford, Susie Ernsting from North Vancouver, and Sharon Mackinnon from Hamilton.
In addition to finding out on how they qualified for Kona and how their respective races went, we also get their takes on what it was like to participate in a race without any men. The answers may be surprising! Hear it now by pressing play below.
Coming soon to Canada, the all-road bike by A2. It’s called the Rogue + it’s ready for all your autumn adventures. Click on the black beauty to get details.
Angela Froese from Chilliwack is a talented juggler. Not only does she juggle training for swimming, biking, and running, just like a lot of tri-moms out there, she juggles that with the demands of a career, and family life.
And as we all know, doing that juggling act involves compromises. Angela however, manages to make it all work through superhuman organizational skills and gritty determination. 5:15 AM alarms are just business as usual for this mother, physiotherapist, and podium-topping triathlete.
Off the race course, Angela is an amiable person to be around, with a great sense of humour but on the race course, this Chilliwack athlete is all business. Laser focused and steel-willed racing is Angela’s modus operandi and it has served her well. In the podcast this week, we chat about Angela’s roots in triathlon and some of her big performances in the sport. We also get Angela’s take on the women’s only race in Kona and of course…the animal question. Spend 30 minutes with the social and multi-faceted Angela by pressing play below.
This week’s feature bike is the RP, which is the A2 aero road bike. Click on the bike below to learn more about it.
In hindsight, could the local triathlon scene for 2023 be called the Year of the Rookie?
From Victoria, Fitspeek guest and Triathlon Magazine Canada colleague Mel McQuaid has just done her first-ever Ironman World Championships (just like Fitspeek host, Kevin Heinze did).
In Victoria, Mitchell Kirby rocked + shocked his competition at the Ironman 70.3.
Just last month a triathlon newbie WON the Cultus Lake Half-Iron.
If you have never heard of Luker Tasker before, you can be forgiven. That’s because this guy, originally from England, had never done a triathlon before.
That’s changed and now Canada has a rising new star at the Half-Ironman distance. A 4:10 debut with a lot of mistakes hints at Tasker’s athletic potential. Before you hate on Luke because of, well, a 4:10, you gotta know that he paid his dues as a lad in the UK swimming 5-6 times a week and competing at a high level in modern pentathlon.
Hear Luke’s story from ski-bum to Vancouver firefighter + champion triathlete by pressing play below.
Tested in the tunnel, aero + affordable, and on-course at the world championships, the SP by A2 bikes is your ticket to a faster bike split. Check out their range of build options by clicking on the bike above.
This week on the show the tables are turned as Fitspeek alumni Leigh-Ann Parker, Kevin Watt, + Dr. E, interview host Kevin Heinze, about his experiences at the Ironman World Championships, in Nice, France.
A major part of the interview is finding out how he qualified for France because being a hydrosloth and giving up 10 minutes to his age group competition in the water, meant that time had to be made up…somewhere! Find out what sacrifices were made in the heat of the battle when he found out that he was in 3rd place in his age group.
Here’s the bike I used to get to Nice and tackle the course in France. It’s the SP by A Squared. Click on it to browse and configure your dream machine. Thanks to Mark Mattecheck at A2 for “Borris.”
Penticton has long been known as one of Canada’s multisport capitals and it’s not just because of the geography. The city has a tireless army of volunteers that get behind everything that a race organizer could want whether that’s an ultra swim, gravel race, fondo, or triathlon.
In addition to the volunteers, Penticton is home to numerous multisport personalities. In this week’s show, we have a chat with locals Steve King, Jen Annett, and Jeff Symonds. They all played a major role in the latest Peach Classic Triathlon. We talk about that, as well as what’s been going on in their non-tri-lives. Hear about it now by pressing play below.
Aero + affordable, based in Oregon,A2 has your next aero road bike available now. Click on the red RP above to find out just how easy building your dream machine is.
This week on the show we have another person originally from Kingston, Ontario. And unlike Mitchell Kirby, this guy has kinda already done everything there is to do in triathlon.
There was this moment (and the paycheque), there was that Olympic gold medal back in 2000, and there was that quarter-century-long career in swim bike run.
But Whitfield isn’t a WAS guy, he’s more of an IS guy, and as you’ll find out in the show, more of a WHAT’S NEXT guy. And while the latter is still being written, the IS consists of salt water and fresh air.
It seems to me sunrises give Simon more pleasure than sunsets but when you ARE a triathlon legend there’s gotta be some baggage you take along with you for the rest of your life’s journey. We deal with that stuff in the interview. We also talk about how ex-Olympians FEED themselves (or more importantly to Simon, sleep well)
Finally, in the show Simon goes Tri-Yoda and offers up insightful advice for today’s pro-triathletes and age-groupers. The advice involves what to do with your cell phone and what to bring to the pool, the next time you go. Hear the show now, by pressing that play button below.
It’s aero, it’s adjustable, it’s available. It’s the SP, the black missile disguised as a tri-bike by A-Squared. To ride it is to love it. Take it from one who knows! Click on the bike to check for available builds and prices.
