Sooke Half-Iron - Race Report

The final triathlon of the season came and went, and I can honestly say that I am extremely happy with this year. I had reached all of my goals coming into the Sooke race, and I was looking forward to doing this last half-iron not worrying about a certain time of position. I just wanted to enjoy myself.

Since the start of school is always a crazy time, my training had been less than ideal coming into the race. I had managed to run a lot, but swimming had become increasingly difficult to accomodate, given my new time contraints with school. I got to the starting line knowing that I would be able to finish, but not expecting much more than that.

Swim
The swim was surprisingly nice. The water was warm, and just as the swim started the sun came up and filled the lake with a beautiful light. I drafted off a few people on each lap, and ended with a 34 minute swim, which is not much slower than my best swim. This shows the power of drafting.
I was so relaxed during the race that during T1, I was chatting the whole time with my dad (who did his first triathlon in the sprint portion). I managed to get out in about a minute, which was fine for me.

Bike
Wow the bike was freezing! I thought I might have to drop out at the start because I was so cold! 1 wet tri-suit and 11 degree temperatures is not pleasant! There was an enourmous hill on the bike that we had to climb 4 times, but I fancy myself a bit of a climber so I managed to pick lots of people off on this portion.

After 3 laps of the 4 lap bike, my legs started to feel it. I usually feel no discomfort on the bike, but today, I was ready to get off and start to run. I managed to enter T2 in 10th place, which was exciting.

Run
I immediately shot off on the run. I felt so good. It was warm. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day for a run. I caught one of my buddies about 2 km into the 21.1km run, and finished the first 5km in about 22 minutes. Then came the hard part. The course was two laps of an out and back course, so each section was approximately 5km. You went 5km down to the water, then a gruelling 5km back up the kill, and then did the same thing all over again. The 5km up the hill ruined my legs, and I began to suffer. My stomach felt tight, I was thirsty but couldn't drink, and my legs felt like concrete. The worst part of all was that the turn around to start the second 10km was right in front of the finish line. It was torture to be so close to the finish line and start another 10km. I knew I would finish, but I didn't know it would be so painfull! The last 5 km of the run was ugly. I was reduced to a light jog, but still kept my position.

I ended up crossing the line in 13 place overall. (10th male) Obviousely the run was brudal for everyone. I was happy that I had the fortitude to finish, and celebrated after the race that I completed three half-iron distance triathlons this year, as well as 6 other distance tris.

It was a marvellous day to race, and I was especially happy to share the day with my dad, who completed his first tri, and experienced that magical feeling we all experienced on the day of our first race!

Nationals - Race Report

I am back from Nationals after a great weekend in Kelowna.


I was really excited about this race, even though I did not plan on racing it this year. I made the BC team, and was granted free admission to the Apple Triathlon, which I could not pass up. Also, the top 10 in each age group get onto the Canadian National Age-Group team, which was very important to me (sort of a new mid-season goal I decided to make after being in Vancouver for the worlds). The timing of the race did not work well into my schedule, and I was not close to a peak phase in training. But still....free race!!

Since I am not a professional athlete, I had to work on the Friday before the race, which meant that we arrived in Kelowna around 12:30 am on Saturday morning. Not exactly an ideal travel strategy but hey, what can you do?

Saturday was one of the hottest days I have ever experienced, and since I had just arrived, I had to do a lot of "pre-race logistical" crap, which took a lot of time. Bike course tour, Package Pickup, Swim Course Practice, Pre-Race Meeting etc. I ended up being on my feet for 6 hours straight at midday heat. (including biking to and from my hotel 4 times to avoid the crazy traffic around the race site, I probably biked about 35k on Saturday!) I was really tired from all of the activities and turned in around 9:30 pm.

Race Morning- I think I slept for about 3 hours. Too excited. After body marking and chip pickup, I went to set up my transition area. Looking around at all of the other guys in my age group, I knew it was going to be a tall order to place in the top 10. These guys looked good! It was nearing time to race, so I headed down to the beach to warm up.

Swim-WOW! This swim was the craziest I have ever experienced. I imagine that it is similar to the IRONMAN experience. This was obviousely smaller, with 110 20-29 year-old guys beating the crap out of eachother. People were grabbing my arms, legs, and every other part. There were punches thrown and gloggles pulled, but we somehow made it around the first buoy. I felt pretty good on the swim, and exited in my usual time of around 26 minutes, which I will take considering I have not been doing the best workouts in the pool lately. A quick run up to T1 and onto the bike.

Bike- I had a great bike. I passed a lot fo the people that beat me in the swim, and ended up trading positions with the leader of the W25-29 group. It was bloody hot! I brought along a water bottle just to spray on my head, as it felt like there was a hair dryer blowing in my face the entire ride. I was feeling like I might be able to pull a PB out of the hat today, but later in the bike I could tell my legs were not their usual chipper selves. 1:07.00, 35.6 km/hr

Run - After the bike, I headed out to what I hoped would be a sub 42 min run. I am usually a sub 40 minute 10k runner, but I usually run in 22 Degrees, not 35. The first 5k loop felt good, and I kept pushing my body as fast as it could go. I was passing tons of age-groupers, but I could not find a person that was going slightly faster than me so that I could latch on for the ride. I think I ran the second loop faster, but I was not looking at my watch, since I knew by this time it was all guts and knowing my time would not make the slightest difference in my pace; I was already going as fast as I could go. With 1.5k to go, I launched my attack. I picked up the pace hard and passed some 20-24 males on the way in (our ages were written on our calves, so you could tell who was in your age group). I ran as hard as I could to the finish, and tried not to throw up. I ended the run in 44 minutes and change, which is uncharacteristically slow, but I felt like I ran it as hard as I possibly could.

I finished 8th in my age group and qualified for the team!!! So HAPPY! I know I could have done better if I had planned for this race, but I am happy to "get the job done" and qualify. Next year I will be ready for sure...

Self Transcendence- Race Report

Well the Self-Transcendence triathlon is one of my favorite races for a reason. Always beautiful weather, and the course is unbeleivable. Having completed the course last year in 2:45.something, I was looking forward to seeing all of the hardwork I have put into my training over the last year.

Unfortunatly, my pre-race routine did not work out like I wanted. I arrived late, and had about 2 minutes of swimming practice before the siren went off.

The swim was one of the worst I have had in a while. I did not get into a pack of swimmers, and felt like I was in no man's land the entire way. I actually swam at a slower pace than my half-iron swims. After 26:43 of hell, I managed to get my wetsuit off fairly quickly, and off onto the bike.

The bike went a lot better, as I steadily clawed my way through the field. I fancy myself a bit of a climber, and take pride that I don't need any recovery after a tough hill. After averaging about 34 km/hr, I pushed the pace into T2, well ahead of last years time.

The run went fantastic. I felt good the whole time, and had lots of energy. As I regularily train at Elk lake, the trail felt familiar and comfortable. I found some good people to pace with, and finished the 10k in just over 40 minutes, which is pretty close to my PB at Elk Lake.

I finished the entire race in 2:18:59, which is almost 20 minutes faster than last year!!! I came 3rd in my division, behind Stephen Kilshaw and Scott Dagnall, not bad company!

Next stop is Kelowna