During my three hours of recovery I managed to pack away a few eggs a bagel and a couple of Powerbars.  As I headed down to the big gravel parking lot at Elk lake I started to fret that this next workout was going to be running alone much different from swimming alone in my mind. I started to do the rough math, I knew Simon could run a 10k in roughly 30 minutes, and my very best time was 38 minutes. Even if we cut that down into one mile chunks he was going to be almost one and a half minutes faster per mile… but hey I thought I could at east giv’er for 1 mile at a time…

Starting the warm up I was in my size 14 Asics, complimented by my beach shorts and dri-fit running t-shirt. My compatriots Brent, Kyle Lauren and Simon were more appropriately dressed for the brisk spring air with track pants and war-up tops. We took off for the warm up and to my surprise I was right with them, we were all having conversation and galloping along at a moderate pace.  Brent. Kyle and Lauren were out in from while Simon and Lance ( coach) were trailing behind. I actually had some time to learn a bit about what the life of a triathlete is like, as the swimming did not provide itself to talking while working out.

I was very curious to everything about the sport, My absolute knowledge of the sport was that it was one sport made up of three and on any given day Simon was one of the best. I was excited to get a perspective of what the other guys/gal in the group were all about? I started with the basics, how big were they? I found out that they were what they described to me as 140lbs dripping wet, and Lauren, well I wouldn’t be so silly to talk about a women’s weight, but it’s safe to say she is very fit and would not have a problem being a lightweight rower with a max weight of 125 lbs.

What I was also keen to know what each of their best parts of the race were. The majority of them said it was running. At this point, after being lapped at the pool in the morning I knew I was now possibly in for a real beating on the trails.

Finishing the warm-up I had managed to stay with Lauren till the end as the guys had ramped up their speed back to the gravel parking lot. After a quick stretch and water break we headed to the mile long stretch of trail Lance (coach) had measured off. I was to be sent off first with Lauren, one and a half minutes ahead of the guys. Being male and a somewhat competitive one I figured I should at least be able to stay close to Lauren….I was wrong. I quickly realized that my 6’5” 215lb frame was not made to move as fast as the svelte miss Groves who pulled away from me at a feverish pace. As I crossed the finish of the first mile Simon and the rest of the guys were approaching fast and had almost made up their minute and a half margin.

As Lauren and I took off again for our second “set” Simon and the guys were going to be sent off one minute behind my goal was to hold them off for as long as I could. This lasted for about half of the distance… as they ran by me (Simon in the lead), I could only hear what I would call a patter of footsteps, nothing like the slapping of the ground that my size 14’s were making. And if I were to use a metaphor it was like a group of galloping gazelles prancing through the forest. I’m pretty sure even if I tried I couldn’t even run that fast for 10 seconds.

This trend of everyone passing me continued, eventually to the point where, well for my own dignity I will keep to myself. But what I will say as we approached our 6th and final set I had slowed down enough that as I was finishing my mile well behind everyone, and my rest had turned into just enough time for me to slow down turn around, pretend I was not pain and immediately do it all over again. The rest of the group was getting at least 2 minutes rest in-between sets! Finishing this workout I realized a couple of things 1) I’m probably out of shape 2) maybe if I could get down to 140lbs I could keep up with these guys. 3) Sctatch #2 there is no way I will ever be able to keep up with these guys and girl.

As we jogged as a group back to the cars I could already feel my calves screaming from the added intensity that only 6×1mile could produce. When we had got back to the cars I was ready to retire for the day and had already made up that decision in my mind, little did I know that there was still a 10 min cool down, I sheepishly withdrew from the group and started my recovery for the day’s work.

Simon and his group were an amazing sight to see, being a top level athlete myself I have come to respect other athletes and their abilities in their respective sports. What this day showed me was I will probably never become a world class triathlete. But all is not lost, because there are a couple of things that I want to point out. Firstly, for Simon to openly allow me to join in with his group only shows how he respects my teams accomplishments, and in return he gained my utmost respect by beating the pulp out of me. Also, an observation whilst running, the guys were shouting out words of encouragement as they ran past me, I was sensing that if it were possible for me to be up there with them they would openly accept me as a challenger helping them push on.

Simons past victories have been inspirational and exciting, with his leadership I can only see good things to come from the rest of our Canadian triathletes as they push their way to the top. However, I will say that I see Simon as a true champion, and he will probably do whatever he can to hold his title as top dog for as long as he possibly can.

I will be back for more adventures of the next days of training soon..