Calgary, AB

On Aug 24, I had the race of my dreams ... taking 28 minutes of my best time, qualifying for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, and finishing 3^rd in my age group.

About 10 months ago ... I booked my Kona accommodations from Oct 2-17 ... for WHEN I qualify for the World Championships on Oct 11. My mind set was ... Kona or bust.

Since I did not register for IMC, I had to qualify to get there. I qualified in Oliver, BC on June 1.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I had a great race ...

Swim Time - 1:01:12

In my opinion ... this is a pretty smoking time. I don't deserve it. In the pool, I work hard to hang onto my mates that swim IM in 1:10 and 1:15.

How did you do it? I swam on the inside next to the buoys ... and looked for fast feet to draft onto. Because I can't swim in a straight line ... I try to find someone with some florescent patch on their leg ... then I just enjoy the bubbly sensation hanging onto their draft. I think many years of playing Rugby and inventing "Chinese Downhill Ski Racing" as a teenager ... turns out to assist my meditative state in chaos.

Bike Time - 5:15:21

When I did Ironman in 2006, I missed the roll down to Kona by one spot and just a few seconds. I said then that I would get ‘fitted' with gear for the next Ironman.

However, I was very reluctant. (I'm cheap.) Finally in Mid July I broke down and got a tri specific bike - a Cervelo P2C. My good friend Greg Kolodziejzyk helped me fit the bike to copy my existing position. He also set me up with an SRM (to measure power), race wheels and an aero helmet! (His help was simply amazing!)

My plan: Hold 210-220 watts for the entire bike ride, and sip on my 1500 calorie bottle and drink one areobar water every aid station.

I followed the plan ... and for the most part really enjoyed the ride. My $80 Aero Bontragger (... which supposedly would make me 2 min. faster) water bottle was really heavy ... and it actually fell off the bike early in the race. I turned back and collected it.

(Did you Pee? 5 times!)

FIRST BIKE SEGMENT - 42.5 mi. (2:05:51) - 20.26 mph

FINAL BIKE SEGMENT - 69.5 mi. (3:09:30) - 22.01 mph

Run Time - 3:24:35

My plan was to start slow for 3-10 km ... then when feeling good ... I would try to hold 8 minute miles to do a 3:30 marathon. My watch was broken and I forgot to take my new fandangle Garmin 405 ... so I had no way to measure pace.

I did start slow for about 3 km ... then picked it up. I felt great most of the run ... and just wanted to the finish and enjoy some pizza. About Mile 22 ... my newly developed Abdominal Hernia ... began to cause some grief. I thought I was well ahead ... so I slowed considerably. In the last 500m of the run ... I wasn't paying attention ... and was passed ... putting me in 3^rd place.

FIRST RUN SEGMENT - 13.1 mi. (1:42:07) - 7:47/mile

FINAL RUN SEGMENT - 13.1 mi. (1:42:28) - 7:49/mile

"You must learn from your past mistakes, but not lean on your past successes." Denis Waitley

What did I do to get to Mr. Happy going to Kona?

-I signed up with Critical Speed. I wanted training partners - who would push me.

-I lost weight. Since November I lost 10-12 lbs. On the day before Ironman I was 162 lbs. (Depending on the time of day ... and the scales I stood on ... I got down to 155. In November I was 170.)

-I got a new bike ... and Greg Kolodqiejzyk set me up and helped me with a ‘power' plan.

-I had a nutrition plan. Hammer Product works great for me.

-I had fun with age-old idea's, recently made popular by Oprah, contained in "The Secret", and "The Law of Attraction".

I'm Mr. Happy

I've been ‘visualizing' a sub 10 hour Ironman ... with the idea that I would be okay with a 10:10 ... which I figured would qualify me for Kona.

I may have wondered in the past if I could do a 9:45 ... but it would have only been a fleeting thought.

It was of course wonderful to have my wife Shirley, and kids Robin and Jacob with me. It was very special to run down the chute with Jacob.

Also, my sister Peggy and her family were all there.

It was cool.

What's next?

I'm looking forward to The World Championship in Kona ... the flights are booked ... and we are all excited.

(This far I haven't committed to a goal - other than raising money for Habitat for Humanity ... but I'm wondering why I shouldn't be able to do sub 10 hours again.!)

I'm on the ‘once an age group Ironman program'. Thus far I've done three IM ... all in different age groups. I look forward to doing more cycle and sea kayak touring, short adventure races, and short tri's. After Kona, I'll be looking for an Ironman sometime after 2012. Until then, I'll stay fit ... and I'll be strategizing on how to win my age group next time!

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said "The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."

I love being outside ... and I love training. It makes me a better Dad, and a better realtor. My reward is surrounding myself with great people, and visualizing the results I want. (Many thanks to my wife Shirley and kids Robin and Jacob. Big Thanks to Coach Cal - Critical Speed, Les Hewitt - Power of Focus, Mike Ferry - Real Estate Coach, Don Campbell - REIN and Greg Kolodqiejzyk).

... I am Mr. Happy. (I wore this T-Shirt at the awards ceremony at IMC.)

Safe Plant Suggestions for Calgary

When selling your house, curb appeal is extremely important. Remember that buyers see the outside first, and you want them to be impressed when they first see your property.

A quick and easy way to dress up the outside is with plants. If you have a flowerbed that is not utilized or overgrown with weeds, that's great. Remove the weeds, add some nice compost or garden mix soil and put in some of below mentioned plants plants. By the way, in Calgary we are Zone 3. So you can purchase any plants that say Zone 3 or lower.

These plants grow well in the Calgary area:

1) All types Pink Spirea - Approx. sizes 3'h x 4'w Summer blooms. Full to part sun

2) All types White Spirea - Approx. size 4'h x 5'w Spring blooms. Full to part sun

3) All types Potentilla 3' x 3' (preferrably white or yellow flowers) Blooms spring to fall (the only shrub to bloom all summer in Calgary). Full sun

4) Purple Leaf Sandcherry - 5' x 5' Spring blooms. Full sun

5) Slowmound Mugo Pine -3' x 3' Don't buy the regular Mugo Pine even if they are cheaper. They get 16' tall and are hard to remove later. Full sun

6) Spreading Junipers - any kind (avoid upright junipers - they look very scraggly within a couple of years). Full to part sun

7) Lilacs - always a nice addition but remember they can get big. Stick to the smaller varieties such as Dwarf Korean or Miss Kim or Tinkerbelle. Spring blooms. Full sun.

8) Ninebark - Dart's Gold (yellow foliage) 5' x 5' or Diablo (purple foliage) 7' x 7'. Full to part sun.

9) Roses - stick with hardy types, either Explorer, Parkland or Morden. Approx size 3'-6'h x 3'-5' w. Various bloom times. Full sun.

10) Hosta's - all kinds, Part sun to shade

Make sure that you leave appropriate room for the plants to grow. Information is on the tags attached to the plants. It might look nice to fill in the bed with several plants, but in 1-2 years they will be too big and look terrible. Plan for the future when you plant shrubs and perennials.

After you've chosen a few plants for the bed and have planted them, cover the bed with 3' of cedar bark chips or mulch. It will hide any dirt, slow the weeds, increase water retention for the plants and will smell fantastic as well.

Planters

If you don't have a flower bed, and are not willing to get out the shovel to dig one, purchase some nice planters and fill them up with annuals. You can load the planters up initially which will give you a wonderful display later in the summer. And the nice thing is, you can move them to you new home!

If it's late summer, you will probably have a hard time finding annuals, so grasses and perennials will do the trick nicely. I've also used pretty shrubs with spreading annuals around the edge. Anything will do. The only downside to planters is that they have to be watered daily. If your property is vacant, this may not be the best idea for you unless you can stop by daily to water it.

I also recommend fertilizing it weekly so it will grow like crazy and will look outstanding. Good luck in the sale of your home and happy planting!

Susan Deering

Beautiful Spaces

403-601-4340

He has some really cool examinations and opinions on real estate trends in Alberta. If you have an interest in the finer points of real estate market trends then I think you will find it very interesting.

I think it is the best non-Realtor real estate website in Canada.

- Andrew Kyle

It's been announced that Jaume Plensa, arguably the world's most renowned living public sculpture artist has been chosen to create a work for the Encana Bow Tower currently under construction on 6 Ave downtown. The tower will be the tallest building in western Canada when it is complete.  The full story:

 http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Platt_Michael/2008/06/16/5890296-sun.php

Here's some of Plensa's other works:

CMHC published their Spring 2008 Rental Market Report on June 5.

The overall vacancy rate in Calgary in April 2008 is 2.0%, compared to 0.5% in April 2007.  The breakdown:

Bachelor: 2.6%

1-Bedroom: 1.8%

2-bedroom: 2.2%

Average rents April 2007: bachelor:$608  1-bedroom:$848  2-bedroom:$1008  3+Bedroom:$939

Average rents April 2008: bachelor:$651 1-bedroom:$906 2-bedroom:$1081 3+bedroom:$1105

The full report including other markets: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64725/64725_2008_B01.pdf

- Andrew Kyle