Graham Beasley Olympic Triathlon
Race Report
July 13, 2008, 8:45am
================================
Pre-race
========
I was awake ahead of my alarm clock, and with no traffic on the roads I got to
Carleton Place at 6:40am and got a front-row rack for my bike, right at the bike
in/out and run out! Cool. So with lots of time available to me, I took my
time, and worked through my pre-race checklist (its good to have it all written
down). Saw lots of familiar faces - Steve, Kailey, Chaughan, Bernard, Jim,
Dick, Russ. I saw Jane briefly from a distance, but we didn't chat beforehand.
The weather was cloudy and humid, but so far no showers/rain (they would come
later). I took my bike out for a brief spin to checkout the run course. I felt
good, and ready to race hard. My race plan was to swim hard, have a controlled,
negative-split bike so that I could come off it with something left, and then go
for a PB run. If all went well I was hoping to be under 2:30. I did my warmup
yoga sun-salutation routine, and then 15mins before race time I got into my
wetsuite (thanks Bernard for zipping me up) and then dropped carefully into the
water (keeping my feet off the bottom, as i had been advised, in order to avoid
the zebra mussles). Wow! Is the current ever strong. I warmed up with a
couple of minutes of strokes, and then had to kick/work just to stay in place as
waited for the horn. I felt ready.
Swim 1500m
==========
The horn went off, and I started swimming, and was not moving! Yikes! I had to
work hard in order to make decent headway against this current. There was some
contact from other swimmers, but not bad. I tried to keep a draft, but the feet
I was following kept moving from side-to-side - maybe that was me. The first
turn buoy, the short one, did not come all that quickly. I tried to keep my
strokes quick and sharp, to minimize any gliding which would stop quickly cuz of
this current. I went around it, and wow! the current just pushes you along. I
zoomed back to the bridge, more-or-less keeping to a draft, and did
longer-slower gliding stokes to take advantage of the current. Around the 2nd
turn buoy, and I had to start working really hard again. I lost my draft
completely now and I had clear water ahead of me, no chance to regain it. I
couldn't see the 3rd turn buoy (the far away one), and once I did see it, it
took FOREVER to come closer. I was working really hard, and I was getting
tired. Thank God I finally got around the 3rd turn buoy and could lengthen my
stroke again. Peaking at my watch I could see how much slower my swim time was
than normal. As I reached the bridge and the swim exit I was thankful, cuz I
was really tired and was now looking forward to the bike.
T1
==
No problems in transition - wetsuite was down to my waist as I ran to my bike,
and quickly I was off running across the mount line.
Bike 40km
=========
One elastic holding a shoe broke before I mounted the bike but I had little
trouble catching the hanging shoe with my foot and getting my feet into my shoes
as I pedaled. I quickly found my pace and settled my breathing and HR from the
swim, and I got into a groove. The roads were rough but dry, and heading
north-west I couldn't feel the wind (yet - it was a south-west wind). I drank
eload every 10mins and belched the occasional gas. Zipping down the hill on
Concession 8 I turning fast and hard onto Wolf Grove Rd, and now we felt the
wind. I stayed on my aero-bars and adjusted my effort to compensate. And the
hills really started - long, gradual, no really steep grades, but enough to kill
momentum and make you work harder. It was a long haul out to the turn around
point - I was starting to will it to come soon as I was tired of going up all
these hills into the wind. A few people passed me, but not many. Finally the
turn-around came, and what a difference - flying down the hills with the wind
behind me. Yehaaa! I immediately felt better and really started to cruise. My
butt started hurting, mainly cuz of the rough roads. Kailey passed me, leading
a train, but I kept them in site, and when one of them stopped to fix a
mechanical issue, I passed him and he didn't overtake me again. Turning back
onto Concession 8 I started reeling Kailey back in, and I caught her as we
turned onto Concession 7. And the rain now started. Not heavy, and not enough
to make me miserably wet, but enough to make me be careful on the corners. I was
really feeling good now, cruising well, pushing the pace without it being a big
effort. Lots of Sprint Tri/Tri-a-tri people to pass. This was fun. As I came
down the last slope to the t-zone I stretched and shook out my back and calfs
and legs. I was happy, my bike ride had gone as planned, expected time, and I
felt good, and was ready to run hard.
T2
==
Another quick transition. I was glad I'd put my socks and shoes in a plastic
bag, as things were wet from the gentle rain.
Run 10km
========
I started patiently and soon my running legs came to me and I settled into a
good pace. I knew that 2:30 was not possible, but I figured I could be under
2:35. I watched for Jane coming the other way (finishing her Sprint-Du race)
and I saw her as I neared the run turnaround. She looked good. The wheels
started to fall off now - a side-stitch started growing, cutting my breathing
and weakening my legs. Dang it!! At the run turnaround I took just 1/2 a gel
and water to wash it down. The stitch got worse, and hard breathing out was
only making me light-headed. Darn it! My pace slowed and I struggled to keep
my breathing, and still run. I got dispondent. Kailey and Bernard passed me
during this rough stage and offered encouragment. I wasn't happy. I was happy
to reach the end of loop 1 and see Brian and Heather cheering us all on in the
rain. I now was determined to push the pace as hard as I could and at least
"leave it all out on the course". I cared about how I finished this race. I
began to push the pace just a bit, and I did not take any water or gatorade at
the aid stations. The stitch was still there, but it wasn't getting any worse,
and I could keep this effort despite it. To the run turnaround, and now I was
headed for home. Running as best as I could. But I now knew that my pace was
slipping. I was all done in. There was no more energy left. I couldn't even
push the pace, and I really did not feel like it. Into the last couple of km's,
and several people passed me like I was standing still, including Rick Hellard
doing the 1/2 Iron. Wow! What a pace. I was done. Around the corner to the
finish line, and I had nothing in me, neither physical nor mental, for a
finishing kick, and with no other competitors near me, I just cruised into the
finish line, to be greated by Nathalie. Thanks Nathalie. Bloody hell! That was
very, very hard!
My Splits
=========
Swim 1500m - 29:27
T1 - 0:58
Bike 20km out - 38:45
Bike 20km back - 34:58
T2 - 0:39
Run loop 1 - 25:33
Run loop 2 - 27:09
Total - 2:37:32
Official Splits
===============
29/94 overall
25/63 Men
5/14 Men 35-39
swim 1500m - 30:23 (includes T1): 10/94 overall, 5/63 Men, 1/14 Men 35-39
bike 40km - 1:13:52: 28/94 overall, 26/63 Men, 5/14 Men 35-39
run 10km - 53:17 (includes T2): 47/94 overall, 37/63 Men, 7/14 Men 35-39
2:37:30
Summary
=======
I am disappointed with my results from this race, but not with my effort. I
gave it all I had on this day. The conditions were tough, from the strong
current in the river, to the hills and wind in the first 1/2 of the bike, to the
side-stitch and running-out-of-energy on the run. I took it all and kept going
to the finish line. I think if I'd have been closer to a run PB or a 2:30
finishing time the motivation would have been there to push the run even harder,
but without that motivation, I just focused on keeping going and getting to the
finish line as best as I could. I felt very apathetic when I got home, but I
forced myself to do all the cleanup, and take my ice bath and hot shower. My
legs didn't feel stiff and sore immediately, but they are started to feel that
way later in the afternoon. Maybe my swim was too fast, too hard an effort
(look at my placing on the swim - yikes, i was ahead of ALOT of people after the
swim). It felt abit too hard, but that effort level was the plan, and I think
without the current to deal with, my swim time might have been around 25mins, so
the extra 4 mins made it extra hard and extra hurt and extra tiring.
Positives from this race: my transitions were REALLY good - both under 1 minute,
even the 2nd one where I had to put on shoes AND socks! No fumbling. It also
helped to have such a prime bike rack spot! I am very happy with my bike ride -
I was steady and patient, and I felt great and was strong to the end. My prep
leading up to the race was also very good - my mental prep was good, as I
focused on my race plan, and I was dilligent in prepping my gear. And finally,
I had a race plan, and I executed it as best as I could on the day. No big
screwups, no loss of focus, I just wasn't able to execute the run-part of the
plan as well as I wanted because of the physical conditions that crept up.
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