Nationals Race Report

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Canadian Championships Race Report

This was to be my big race for this season. I put a lot of pressure on myself for this one. After my dissappointment in Collingwood just 2 weeks earlier, I needed to pull something out of my bag of tricks to make this a good year. I was going into it with a little less training than I'd like, but the time I was able to spend with my family is much more important to me. If I could rip off a good race here I'd be really happy with the way this past year has gone so far.

Dan Nichols and I flew from London, to arrive in St.Johns New Brunswick just before midnight. Apparently the rental car company rep became tired of waiting for our flight, ( we were one hour late leaving TO) and left........So we had no way to get to our homestay one hour away by car. Luckily, we managed to fast talk our way into getting a rental from another company. Off we went, driving through the rain and fog to find a warm place to sleep. We were met by Dan's friends Keith and Lindy with open arms. It felt sooooo good to lay down in a dry warm bed. The next day we put our bikes together and drove to the race site for a little swim/bike, to stretch out our legs. It felt good to get the body moving, not too hard, but enough to work out any kinks that appeared on the flight. I spent the evening "tinkerin' with my stuff". I've come to realize that this helps me when I'm nervous. If I'm busy, I don't have time to get freaked out about the race. So I get as ready as possible the night before, (this also helps get every minute of sleep I can possibly get on race morning). I listen to some music that I think will get me going tommorrow during the race. The worst thing is to have a song that you don't like stuck in your head for 5 1/2 hrs, so I chose this music carefully, (tonight it is 54-40). Off to sleep.

Race morning, and Dan wakes me up 8 minutes before my alarm is set to go off, (I could have strangeled him)!!!! I get dressed and we're off to St.George. Feeling pretty good, with no major issues. We made it to the race site before the majority of athletes show up, so we don't have to wait in any lines, (I hate standing in lines on race morning) so this is good. After a short warm up in the water, everyone is brought out of the water for last minute instructions. They introduce all of the Elite competitors with a little info on our recent accomplishments. I had my race face on until they mentioned that I was a new father of a 6 month old little girl. I felt a huge smile come over my face as I thought of my family back in London. I get all warm and fuzzy for a bit.......then back to race mode.

The swim was in a river. 2 laps, up and down, calm water. It felt effortless. One big problem, the sun was shining really bright into our eyes for half of each lap. To make things worse, my goggles had fogged up and I couldn't see anything!! I kept thinking I was going to run into a dock, or tree or something. I came out of the water in the front of the chase pack. I hop on my bike and off we go! I think I was in 3rd or 4th place at this time. I felt great on the bike. Checking my effort, I felt like I was totally within my limits for the first lap of the 3 lap bike course. Then just as Garret MacFadyen passed me, (about 45 min in) I dropped my chain.......It seemed to take forever to get it unstuck and back on. When I looked up Garret and Bruno Laffontaine were out of sight......... I tried too hard to catch them for the next lap, and I think this tired me out for the last lap of the bike. Live and learn. To make things worse, my water bottle fell off the back end of my bike and I had nothing to drink for the last hour........I started the run in 5th place, feeling very thirsty. I really needed something to drink and I couldn't get enough fluid at the first few aid stations. The run course was incredibly tough. I mean, what does this race director think he is doing? We had the first 1 1/2 km's and the last 1 1/2 km's that were flat..........the rest? It was nuts!!!!!!! It seemed like we were constantly going up or down for the entire run. Which really didn't feel like a run, it felt more like survival! Anyhow, I managed to survive and finish in 5th place. Very happy to be done.

Dan had a great race and managed to win his age category !!!!! I was sooo happy for him!! Job well done. It turned out to be a nice, hot, and sunny day, just the way I like it. Very different from Collingwood two weeks earlier. Overall, I think the race went pretty smooth. It's always nice to travel and race in different places. There was so much to see and do in New Brunswick. We went back to St.Andrews and had a late dinner by the sea. Dan was quite adament about having lobster while we were there. I had no such plans as I don't eat meat. It was a little hard to find a restaurant that had anything that I could eat. So we made due with some local beer. I don't drink very often, but man this hit the spot tonight. I'm taking a bit of a break to let my bodymind get back to training again. Then I may give a marathon a shot in the fall. I'll keep you posted. Should be interesting to see if a triathlete can run a marathon.........
Good luck in all your upcoming training and races.

Shawn Reeder

		Canadian Championships Race Report This was to be my big race for this season. I put a lot of pressure on myself for this one. After my dissappointment in Collingwood just 2 weeks earlier, I needed to pull something out of my bag of tricks to make this a good year. I was going into it with a little less training than I'd like, but the time I was able to spend with my family is much more important to me. If I could rip off a good race here I'd be really happy with the way this past year has gone so far. Dan Nichols and I flew from London, to arrive in St.Johns New Brunswick just before midnight. Apparently the rental car company rep became tired of waiting for our flight, ( we were one hour late leaving TO) and left........So we had no way to get to our homestay one hour away by car. Luckily, we managed to fast talk our way into getting a rental from another company. Off we went, driving through the rain and fog to find a warm place to sleep. We were met by Dan's friends Keith and Lindy with open arms. It felt sooooo good to lay down in a dry warm bed. The next day we put our bikes together and drove to the race site for a little swim/bike, to stretch out our legs. It felt good to get the body moving, not too hard, but enough to work out any kinks that appeared on the flight. I spent the evening "tinkerin' with my stuff". I've come to realize that this helps me when I'm nervous. If I'm busy, I don't have time to get freaked out about the race. So I get as ready as possible the night before, (this also helps get every minute of sleep I can possibly get on race morning). I listen to some music that I think will get me going tommorrow during the race. The worst thing is to have a song that you don't like stuck in your head for 5 1/2 hrs, so I chose this music carefully, (tonight it is 54-40). Off to sleep. Race morning, and Dan wakes me up 8 minutes before my alarm is set to go off, (I could have strangeled him)!!!! I get dressed and we're off to St.George. Feeling pretty good, with no major issues. We made it to the race site before the majority of athletes show up, so we don't have to wait in any lines, (I hate standing in lines on race morning) so this is good. After a short warm up in the water, everyone is brought out of the water for last minute instructions. They introduce all of the Elite competitors with a little info on our recent accomplishments. I had my race face on until they mentioned that I was a new father of a 6 month old little girl. I felt a huge smile come over my face as I thought of my family back in London. I get all warm and fuzzy for a bit.......then back to race mode. The swim was in a river. 2 laps, up and down, calm water. It felt effortless. One big problem, the sun was shining really bright into our eyes for half of each lap. To make things worse, my goggles had fogged up and I couldn't see anything!! I kept thinking I was going to run into a dock, or tree or something. I came out of the water in the front of the chase pack. I hop on my bike and off we go! I think I was in 3rd or 4th place at this time. I felt great on the bike. Checking my effort, I felt like I was totally within my limits for the first lap of the 3 lap bike course. Then just as Garret MacFadyen passed me, (about 45 min in) I dropped my chain.......It seemed to take forever to get it unstuck and back on. When I looked up Garret and Bruno Laffontaine were out of sight......... I tried too hard to catch them for the next lap, and I think this tired me out for the last lap of the bike. Live and learn. To make things worse, my water bottle fell off the back end of my bike and I had nothing to drink for the last hour........I started the run in 5th place, feeling very thirsty. I really needed something to drink and I couldn't get enough fluid at the first few aid stations. The run course was incredibly tough. I mean, what does this race director think he is doing? We had the first 1 1/2 km's and the last 1 1/2 km's that were flat..........the rest? It was nuts!!!!!!! It seemed like we were constantly going up or down for the entire run. Which really didn't feel like a run, it felt more like survival! Anyhow, I managed to survive and finish in 5th place. Very happy to be done. Dan had a great race and managed to win his age category !!!!! I was sooo happy for him!! Job well done. It turned out to be a nice, hot, and sunny day, just the way I like it. Very different from Collingwood two weeks earlier. Overall, I think the race went pretty smooth. It's always nice to travel and race in different places. There was so much to see and do in New Brunswick. We went back to St.Andrews and had a late dinner by the sea. Dan was quite adament about having lobster while we were there. I had no such plans as I don't eat meat. It was a little hard to find a restaurant that had anything that I could eat. So we made due with some local beer. I don't drink very often, but man this hit the spot tonight. I'm taking a bit of a break to let my bodymind get back to training again. Then I may give a marathon a shot in the fall. I'll keep you posted. Should be interesting to see if a triathlete can run a marathon......... Good luck in all your upcoming training and races. Shawn Reeder