Posted by: Becca

A few weeks ago Kyle and I went on a Denver vacation. Nominally it was for me to do the Harvest Moon triathlon, but we made it into a little mini-vacation. On Saturday we checked out Ikea, the highlight for me was the Swedish meatball platter, then we spent some time in downtown Denver. We had a great dinner and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the race.

Race day was gorgeous. It was a little cool at the start, I was happy to have my wetsuit.

The swim was slow:

The bike ride was slower. Kyle rode around on his bike taking pictures. This was a good plan with a fatal flaw. Every time he stopped to take pictures, someone from the race would stop to ask if he needed help!

And the run was slowest.

The race ended with a slip-n-slide. A fun ending to a fun day.

The scenery was beautiful (I had plenty of time to enjoy it) and I had a great time. I have to say, it was really nice to have my own personal photographer/cheering squad. Don't the sailboats in the background seem out of place given the fact the race was in Denver?

Posted by: Kyle

We went to Penticton, BC at the end of August for Ironman Canada. Penticton is a nice town in the Okanagan Valley, which has several large lakes, all surrounded by mountains, and seemingly endless vineyards and fruit orchards.

Here's Becca at the Japanese garden on the edge of Lake Okanagan:

On Saturday, the day before the race, we drove the bike course, got some fresh peaches from a farm stand along the route, and took some pictures:

We stayed at the Plaza Motel - very classy.

The race was on Sunday, starting with a 2.4 mile swim in Okanagan Lake. Here's the start:

The bike was next. It's a great bike course - very hilly. Here I am on my way out of town:

And again, after a hot and windy 112 miles:

It was a really hot day - mid 80's for the run. Here I am near the beginning of the run. This guy thought Bec was taking his picture.

Highlights from the run: Australian guy saying to me, "You've got a duck in you pocket mate. Could've used that one going up this hill." and the person sitting on ths side of the course with a sign that said, "Worst parade ever!"

I finished in 10:19, which was about as good as I could have hoped for. Here I am at the finish with an Orange Crush:

Penticton seems to be mostly Greeks and Sihks. There were a ton of Greek restaurants, and Sihk temples. Just about everyone working in the orchards was wearing a turban. We went to a really good Greek restaurant after the race. We had Spanikopita

and dolmades

and rabbit stew made from local rabbits