Riverkeeper Olympic Triathlon
Britannia, Ottawa, 9:45am Sat June 14, 2008
Race Report
-----------
Fri night I was feeling tired, and the legs felt heavy, but I focused and did
all the race prep that I wanted to do, including falling asleep while
listening to Terry Orlick! Sheesh! I must be relaxed! Sat morning I was
awake at 6am, before my 6:30am alarm clock, so I got up, and read my book
(Dune) while eating breakfast. The weather looked gray and showers
threatening, but warm, so I dressed light, and expected to get wet. I left
the house ~7:05am and rode down to Britannia, getting there ~7:20am. I
picked a transition spot right by a tree (and so did a few others, so it was
a bit congested), and after getting my body marking and walking the exits, I
just relaxed for a while - read my book and talked with Steve and Treena. At
8:15am I headed out for a short bike WU - short cuz my legs still felt dead.
It showered a bit. I went and checked out the bike dismount/mount from the
path to the parkway, and I decided I would run it. Back to the t-zone just
before 8:30am, and someone had put their bike in my spot, ontop of my gear.
I went to find a volunteer to ask what to do, and they headed off to find a
race official, but the guy whose bike it was overheard me and fessed up and
moved his bike. No problem. I did my bike setup, and then retreated to a
quiet corner to read over my mental notes one more time and eat my pre-race
can of fruit - mango, yummm! 9am, as another shower came along, I stetched
and did my pre-race yoga sun-salutation routine. I felt good and loose and
relaxed. At 9:15am I returned to the t-zone to do my final setup and 9:30am
had me down to the beach where I put my wetsuite on - Treena came along to
zip me up - and I got into the water for a quick warmup and goggle check.
The water was colder than Shirley's Bay yesterday, but alright. I lined up
on the beach at the back, and over on the far left, which seemed to have a
wide, but direct and maybe shorter route to the first swim turn buoy.
Swim
----
5-4-3-2-1 and we were off. Much thrashing and congestion, but I found a
groove early and easily. A triangle course, so much congestion at each turn
buoy, and I went wide. I settled in. Returning to the beach at the end of
loop 1 I did dolphin dives - never done them before - and passed quite a few
people. But they sure send you anaraerobic! Loop #2 was less congested, but
one guy knocked my googles slightly askew, and they started to leak abit.
Not a problem enough to stop and fix them. I also saw the clouds clearing
and sun coming out. Hmmm, and I hadn't put sunscreen on and I had the yellow
rain lenses in my glasses. Oh well. End of loop #2 and I was still going
steady, I did the dolphin dives again, controlling them better. Loop #3
people had strung out now. I didn't really try to find a draft - I am not
comfortable with that yet - I just swam, and found my effort going up a bit.
I felt good. To the beach and I did a few dolphin dives until the water was
shallow enough to run out.
T1
--
Running off the beach I had a little difficulty getting my wetsuit down to my
waist, but with a long run into the t-zone, I had time. To my bike and a
little fumbling with the wetsuit and then my race # belt, but I thought I'd
transitioned well, and I ran out of the t-zone and across the mount line,
passing a whole group who stopped to mount their bikes.
Bike
----
I got into my shoes for the ride along the bike path, and then got out of
them again to run the dismount/mount onto the Parkway, where I had difficulty
getting my l.foot back into the shoe. I settled in quickly. Wind was from
the SW, so tailwind going out, headwind coming back. I focused on being
steady, and not pushing the pace - I wanted to save my legs for the run. I
sipped e-load at each turnaround and exchanged bottles at the end of the
second loop. A nice steady bike ride, I just cruised. I kept my momentum
through each turnaround - man, people need to learn how to do these better,
some where going so slow and wide, I could pass them on the inside. Loops 3
&4 my legs/quads were starting to get sore/tired on the return, headwind,
leg, but I just stayed aero and steady. After the 4 loops I again ran
through the dismount/mount, but didn't bother to put my feet back into the
shoes for the 1500m ride back to the t-zone. I did lots of stretching out of
my calves and quads and legs. They felt good.
T2
--
Running into the t-zone Brenda Ross saw me and yelled. I nearly ran past my
spot, had to stop quick. I fumbled abit with my socks, but otherwise I
transitioned well, and as I ran out of the t-zone I focused on not going out
at a dead-sprint.
Run
---
Boy was it hot and humid by now! My watch said 1:43, so I knew that a
sub-2:30 time (my dream goal for this race) was out, so the goal now was to
have the best run I could. My legs felt good, and I soon settled into a good
pace, not too fast. By 2km in, I was cruising, feeling good. I ate my gel @
the 2.5km turnaround and chased it with water there too. I put water over me
too. Shortly thereafter a side-stitch started. Damn it. I breathed out
hard, and it faded away after a couple of minutes. Back to finish loop #1 and
I just cruised steadily, not pushing the pace. It was hot and humid. I knew
I was doing a 5min/km pace, I would like a little faster pace, but I knew
this was what the pace was today. Finishing loop #1 I took a bit of water,
and the side-stitch tried again. I buried it with a couple of minutes of
hard breathing out. I yo-yoed with a 45yr-old guy. He would surge ahead of
me, and then I would slowly gain back on him. 7km in and things started
getting tough - my legs started to get heavy and tired. The string with the
45yr-old got longer and eventually broke. I had to focus to keep my
pace/effort. Now I had to stay strong. Don't quit now. Last run
turnaround, I sipped a bit more water, pouring more over me, and the
side-stitch tried one more time. Again I was able to bury it with some hard
breathing out. Heading home now. Stay strong, stay steady, as my legs were
getting more and more tired and heavy. Then, approx 1mile to go, my pace and
effort increased and my legs got a little lighter. The desire was there to
push a little more. A couple of guys, not in my AG, passed me towards the
end, but I didn't feel like trying to stay with them, I was working hard
enough already, and I cruised across the finish line not completely wiped
out.
my time stats:
--------------
swim #1: 9:00, HR 153avg
swim #2: 8:54, HR 152avg
swim #3: 8:57, HR 154avg total swim: 26:51
T1: 2:03
bike #1: 20:00 (includes out on the path)
bike #2: 16:27
bike #3: 16:40
bike #4: 19:55 (includes back on the path)
total bike: 1:13:02
T2: 1:03
run #1: 12:26, HR 166avg
run #2: 12:22, HR 172avg
run #3: 12:39, HR 176avg
run #4: 12:30, HR 177avg total run: 49:57
total: 2:32:56
official results:
----------------
2:32:56
34/85 men
4/11 Men 35-39
41/123 overall
swim 1500m: 28:52 (swim + T1), 20/85 men, 2/11 M35-39, 32/123 overall
bike 40km: 1:13:05, 32.8km/h, 43/85 men, 4/11 M35-39, 53/123 overall
run 10km: 51:00 (T2 + run), 33/85 men, 4/11 M35-39, 40/123 overall
summary:
--------
I am very happy with this race, not cuz of my time, but from the way I raced
it with a steady, even effort the whole way. I was relaxed pre-race, and
throughout the whole race. I just "let it happen". I could have gone
harder/faster in the swim and bike, but didn't because my mantra was "save it
for the run", which I did, and turned in a solid, steady run and I had the
energy and strength at the end to finish the way I had gone the whole race,
steady and strong to the end! I did not force the run pace at all, I jut let
it happen. I am not quite happy with my transition times, some fumbling, but
the long runs (long run from beach and one long row to run the length of each
time) certainly had alot to do with my transition times. Side-stitch again.
Hmmm, do I have an issue here? On the bike I took in ~1.3L of eload, spread
out over 7 bike turnarounds/~56mins, and then the gel @2.5km on the run and a
little bit of water @ 2.5km/5km/7.5km of the run. The side-stitch started to
come on after each bit of water, so I kept it at a BIT (I didn't want more
anyways). Hmmmm?!?
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