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!