A Tale of 6 years - Oliver RR

Flashback to exactly 6 years ago on another June 1^st, I completed my very first half-ironman in Oliver. 

Just re-reading the race report, I said,  "It sure felt like a million bucks finishing in that form. I was ecstatic about my time. 5 hours 46 minutes and 42 seconds. This race was an eye-opener and something I would definitely try improve upon in the future years."

Yep the retro days...proof that it is okay to rock the jammer shorts in the half iron! I know I know, my colours coordination was pretty phenomenal back in those days. :)

Man has a lot have changed since then. I went on to complete 16 more half iron distance events. So it was nice to finally return to Oliver to do this well organized race again in the wine country. 

Fun road trip and great hospitality, we stayed near the beautiful Gallagher Lake 

Overall, I guess despite the differences in the race course and conditions, I noticed a rough 10-20-10 minutes improvement on the swim-bike-run. I think despite my nutrition mishaps on a hot day, it was interesting to compare yourself to an earlier retro-version.

Swim - was a confidence booster, first time hitting the 35 minutes marker.
Bike - felt good as I was more committed on the bike with the benefit of all the trainer rides we did in the winter. It's amazing what steady pedaling can do.
Run - was just death. Of course my nutrition on the bike was a bit lacking, so the run kinda took a hit. I had my garmin on auto-split per km and it was one of those races where you didn't want to see those splits.

Overall, maybe 'feeling like a million bucks' in this race was a far thing from the truth. I finished in 5 hours 3 minutes and 37 seconds. Great lesson in nutrition.

Speaking of which, some wine tasting was in stored.