New Direction for Peterborough Half Iron - July 10th

It is now official so I will post on my blog the recent adjustment in my race prep for Subaru's Peterborough Half Iron Distance race.

Last Friday, I received an email from Syd asking me to help out a visually impaired triathlete that was coming in from BC to race the Half Iron Triathlon. Syd is the guide for Ryan Van Praet and they are both very involved in the program and were looking for a guide for the day to help out a fellow athlete, Brian Cowie. (I believe Ryan and Brian went 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in Ironman 70.3 Worlds last fall so these guys are super talented!)

Thankfully, I was training for the event (as a duathlon) so my training hours were in line with the amount of time needed to race this event. The only worry I had was the lack of swimming in my training this year but, after speaking to Syd, he was very confident that I could guide Brian through the swim at a comfortable level and then Brian would display his cycling skills to move his way up through the field.

So after a day of thought, I knew I could not let this opportunity pass and confirmed my availability to help Brian around the course in Peterborough. Now that we have connected, I have found out that Brian is also going to be in the area for the Canadian Cycling Championships (TT and RR) so we will have some time to work out some of the rookie jitters I have before my guiding debut.

With a lot of his focus on the Cycling Championships next week, he is just aiming to have a fun and relaxed day on the triathlon course on July 10th so he has reduced the amount of pressure I was feeling when I first accepted the position. I was very honoured to be thought of by Syd and Ryan so I did not want to fail in my assignment.

The "Won with One" program is bringing in a large group of talented athletes for the Peterborough Race (Sprint and Half Iron) so please show your support for these amazing traithletes.

To find out more about Brian Cowie please visit his blog -
http://briancowieparalympian.blogspot.com/