Race report from Canadian Sprint Triathlon,
September 3, 2005
Mooney's Bay, Ottawa
My race start was 8:10am, but I was down early (6am) to watch the Iron
Distance athletes start, so I got the perfect transition spot. My goals for
this race were: 1) go as fast/hard as I could, esp 2nd 1/2 of the bike and on
the run; and 2) finish sub-1:40. Again, I had to deal with nerves
(butterflies NOT flying is formation) as I prepared my equipment and myself
for the race. I am still not used to these nerves, as I rarely have had much
nerves before running races. Maybe it is because of all the additional
variables of triathlon racing and that you have to do so much preparation
pre-race. That's alright. Once I am on the startline, the butterflies were
gone, and I was ready to go. It was good to have my coach Jane there at the
start, being a calming influence.
The swim:
The water temperature was perfect. I got into a steady groove early. Not
going hard, and not wanting to. I had room from other competitors around me,
and experience very little contact the whole swim. On the long backstretch,
I took a look at my watch. My HR was down, good, but the time already read
7mins something, and I knew I was only about 1/2 way around the course.
Hmmm! I wondered if I was really swimming slow, or the course was quite
long. Coming back into the beach, the sun was right in my eyes, preventing
me from sighting on the buoys, but I did not deviate off course, and I got
onto the beach alright. My watch showed me how slow my time was.
I heard Jane calling my name as I ran up to transition. I also did some
belching - I guess I swallowed some water :-). Quickly I was at my bike and
was running out with it to the bike course. We had a long, bumpy run, and I
took it at near running race pace, passing some people, but bouncing my bike
around so that one of the elastics holding my bike shoes broke and nearly
losing my aero-bottle sponge. Neither thing affected me, though. Then I was
at the mount line, Brian Green, the volunteer there cheering me on, and I
mounted my bike quickly and was off.
The bike:
It started badly. I really struggled to get my feet into my shoes, and then
getting my bike gloves on. At least I wasn't having to negotiate corners and
other cyclists as I struggled, as I had clear road around me while I sorted
them out. No matter, once they were on I put that behind me, and I settled
down. My HR was good, and I found my pace and effort level, and cruised.
The wind was not much of a factor in either direction, with just a couple of
bad spots on the course. I passed some people, and some passed me. I took
note of those that did pass me, hoping to catch them later. I saw some of my
friends on the bike - Theresa doing the full iron distance, Geoff, and Jim.
At the end of the first loop, I took my gel as planned, made a face at friends
cheering, and then got down to pushing the pace as much as I dared. I did
so, as my speed and HR went up. I started passing back some of the people
who had passed me in the first loop! Awesome! Once guy tucked in behind me
and drafted for a minute or so, but I kept my pace up, and was able to drop
him. I was going as fast and as hard and I dared, using the feeling in my
legs as my guide, but that may have been slightly deceptive as I could feel
my legs, particularly my quads, starting to tire and burn. I really felt the
burn going up the (slight) hills at Bank St and the locks, and where the wind
was in our faces (Dowes Lake, Landsdowne). Would I have enough left to run?
I wondered.
Off my bike and I started the long run to transiton. My legs were wobbly,
but the run with my bike I think helped my legs to start getting sorted out.
I was able to pass a couple of more people on that long run, always a good
feeling! In transition there were no other bikes near me on my rack, so I
had no problems racking my bike, and quickly got my socks and shoes on. I
had to pull my hat out from under the rack leg, and then I was off and
running.
The run:
The legs took about a mile to come around, and until that happened, the run
was a bit of a struggle. The circulation came back to my left foot, and my
pace was good, but I couldn't get my HR up into the 180's until nearly the
run turnaround. There I was able to catch and pass Geoff Wright and I was
off and cruising for home. One guy in my age group passed me, and he was
going just a little too fast for me to stay with, so I just let him go. I
was catching and passing more people now, and I was running as fast as I
could. I thought of my mental preparation before the race, telling myself to
"Eat pain!", and I did. The final hills and cross-country trail coming back
into Mooney's Bay Park were hard, but I saw my pace and effort level increase
again - I could smell the finish line. I set my sights on a guy in yellow
approx 50m ahead of me. I was gaining on him, and although I finished with a
hard rush, I didn't quite catch him. Again I heard Jane cheering me on at
the finish! Thanks Jane! It was quite the hard effort!
my stats (the times are from my watch, not Sportstats):
500m swim 14:49 HR 149 (it was actually 750m)
T1 3:26
30km bike (it was longer than 30km, more like 31.7km)
first loop 27:58 HR 165
second loop 26:59 HR 170
T2 2:27
5km run 24:40
======
1:40:20
58/290 overall
46/183 men
14/35 men 35-39
some interesting stats (from Sportstats)
swim 135/290 overall, 84/183 men, 16/35 men 35-39
bike 43/290 overall, 38/183 men, 12/35 men 35-39
run 97/290 overall, 78/183 men, 18/35 men 35-39
so clearly my strength is the bike leg (which included both transitions)
cons:
- I think I could have worked harder/gone faaster in the swim;
- putting my shoes and bike gloves on on thee bike needs some more practice,
as I sure botched them up this race;
- did the first bike look a bit too hard, ass I worked alot harder in the
second loop and did not get as much of a negative split as I wanted;
pros:
- didn't achieve my time goal of 1:40, but tthat can be accounted for by the
long swim, long bike, and long transition runs. I am VERY happy with the time
I did achieve!
- excellent running with my bike in transitiions;
- 2nd bike loop was good - I went hard and rreally pushed the legs as I wanted
to;
- EXCELLENT run off the bike with tired legss - I was able to get stronger as
the run went along, and achieved the sub-25mins that I wanted;
- EXCELLENT stats, overall, and well in the top 1/2 of my age group (aot my
usually being right in the middle of my AG)!
- I put out the effort level I wanted to - II left it on the course, where it
belongs
We got word from Somersault that the swim was indeed long - 750m aot 500m, so
they were modifying all the results to reflect this.
(
geocities.com/marathon13man/race_reports) (
geocities.com/marathon13man)