Submitted by the Men’s Breakfast
Most of you know him as Dr. Ian Quist, Chiropractor, however he is also a very active triathlon devotee. At our August 10th breakfast, Ian explained all that is involved in a triathlon and described his own participation in the sport(s) since 2015. Always an active cyclist, he took up swimming then decided to try his hand (feet, legs and arms) at competitive triathlons.
Triathlons involve 3 sports; swimming, cycling and running (in that order) and come in 4 levels including full ironman, half ironman, Olympic, and sprint. A full ironman consists of a 3.8 km swimming component; 180 km cycling and a 42.2 km run with each level consisting of half the distance of the next higher level.
Ian’s first triathlon was a sprint event held in Ottawa in 2017 and he had just returned from a full ironman event held at Lake Placid where he finished in (his) record time of 13hr:40min:14sec. Each participant has a ‘timing chip’ on one ankle which identifies the person and engages the second they step in the water. Each person carries their own nutrition snack and each race course provides aid stations which, importantly, provide blister band aids. He quoted a saying that describes each participant’s ordeal: “A triathlon is where the body’s endurance meets the mind’s resilience”, kind of like my ordeal when cutting the lawn!
The first ironman competition was the Kona Hawaii event which was held in 1978 and is now considered the ‘World Championship’ of ironman events. Training software replicates bike riding courses from all over the world and “Race X” can predict your timing in each event. However, each event is unique and even if courses are repeated, factors such as weather and water currents will affect individual timing.
Ian noted that he tries to avoid cycling on Highway #6, probably a good move, but if you spot him training, be sure to give him safe clearance.
Our guest speaker for the September 7th breakfast is Daryl Cowell, an expert in groundwater typical of the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula (‘karst’). He will discuss local groundwater conditions and note some issues associated with groundwater contamination.
October 19th will be our annual “Women’s Breakfast” and will feature Ethan Meleg who is an incredible wildlife and landscape photographer. Ethan provided us his story and photographs at our March breakfast but we felt that the ladies should not be denied the adventure.
If you are planning to attend, please contact Steve at mensbreakfastnsbp@gmail.com
