Riding Mountain Triathlon - August 18, 2007

Flying to Manitoba I am still not certain if it will be the Sprint or Olympic distance I will compete in the following week. On the one hand, I am feeling healthy and having a great season. I know I can beat my previous Olympic distance time on this course. On the other hand, it is my vacation and I want to have fun. I don’t want to spend the entire week worrying about the longer distance. I want to have fun doing the race. I don’t want to come in last in a tight field of competitors. Eventually I come to the decision to do the Sprint. I have nothing to prove. I want to have a good time.

Race day arrives. It is very cool outside. I have to wear a jacket while getting set up in transition. I begin to second guess my decision to not wear a wet suit but I know I will be more comfortable with my breathing without it. I try to get in a warm-up but when I take my bike for a ride I decide I don’t like the seat set up. I get my Dad to help me adjust it…twice. I must get a new bolt or a quick release for that seat. The pre-race meeting upsets the rhythm of my warm-up but is integral as it reminds me that the entrance to the run is not the corner I think it is. I head out for a warm-up run to check out the course but I’m feeling antsy and don’t go out for as long as usual.

The Olympic distance athletes start their swim. I go in the water to warm up. It turns out it is too soon. A few of the Olympic distance swimmers are very weak and the race marshals elect to wait for them to complete before letting the Sprinters start. I am shaking I am so cold. The water temperature is 17C and the air temperature is similar. The announcer notes that by the times coming in, the course is set long.

Finally we get the clearance to start and I dive into the cold, clear water. Something is wrong. I cannot get my breathing under control. I mix my freestyle stroke with some breast stroke to try to get enough air. When I do freestyle I breathe every second pull instead of every third. I tell myself to just continue moving forward and that it will get better. I fight my way through the first three buoys, choking on some water between the second and third. When I get to the final buoy I check my watch and find out that I have only put in 11 minutes. Surprisingly I have not lost much time. I fight to get my breathing under control and start going 20-30 pulls before sighting during the last, longest, leg to shore. As I exit I see that I have exceeded my goal by 5 minutes! I don’t know how it happened with that disastrous start, but I’ll take it. Swim: 20:01 PB (course)

I run into transition handing over my first Velcro number. This is what life must have been like before electronic timing! As I exit transition I hear the announcer announce my name and mention that I have come here from Toronto where I am a Vice President at an ad agency. Love the bios they made us fill out as it definitely makes it more interesting for the spectators as well as personalizing the experience for the athletes.

I go out hard on the bike past our family cottage, passing two people on our street that leads to the highway. I feel fantastic the entire ride. Though I am breathing heavily for the first part of the ride I continue to push, trying to stay in aero or at least on the low drops for the majority of the ride. I remind myself to drink lots of Gatorade even though it is cool out. I know the hills well and try to take a lot of speed from the downhills into the uphills. My heart beats a bit faster as I go up the hill where my chain broke days before. Luckily it holds and I have no gearing issues whatsoever for the whole ride. I see Michelle heading back so I know she is having a great race. I average 24.8 KPH on the way out. I’m happy with that as it is an extremely hilly course. The turnaround is on a downhill which sucks as I have to dump my speed to turn around and then set off uphill. I am feeling good though and feel even better when an Olympic distance athlete passing me states “you’re looking good”. That is until she follows it up with, “is this your first race?” Ouch! On the way back I try to push at 30-40 KPH on the flats so that I can average 25 KPH overall. I am feeling so good that I can’t believe it when I see the turnoff back into town. How can it be over? I’m still feeling so good! I kick it up into town and disaster almost strikes. A truck stops at a crosswalk (yes, they do that in Manitoba) by the campground and three kids begin crossing the road right in front of me on their bikes. I yell “WATCH OUT!!!” at the top of my lungs and they stop dead in their tracks. Luckily I am able to swerve around them. The announcer again announces my arrival. I’m thrilled to note I did manage to average 25.2 KPH on the bike. Bike (including transitions): 51:07 PB (course)

As I leave transition for the run I note that my time is 1:10 and change. I completed the course in just under 2 hours the year previously and had been aiming for 1:55. I could walk the run course and meet that! Instead I decide to push it and see if I can get 1:50, maybe even 1:45. I am breathing hard the first kilometer or so. I know the course well but I don’t see any distance markers so I have no idea how far I have gone. I check my time at the turnaround and see that, if it is truly halfway I am running at about 7:30 minutes per kilometer. I try to go quicker, even running up the awful hill on Ta-wa-pit whose twin sister on Wasagaming was the hill Michelle and I hill trained on (twice!) earlier in the week. Finally I see the 8K marker which given the Sprint and Olympic courses had married up must mean I have 2 km to go. I am still feeling surprisingly good. When I get the 9K marker I check my time - 1:40. As I usually race at 7-8 minutes per km, I figure that 1:45 is now out of reach but I can break 1:50. I pick up the pace still further. I see the right turn ahead that will take me past my cottage and to the finish line. I put everything I have into getting there as quickly as possible without falling down. As I cross the finish line I am ecstatic to see that I did it in 1:45!!! I ran the last km in under 5 minutes!!! I did not know that I was capable of that pace! Run: 33:37 PB (course) + PB (Ever!)

Total time: 1:45:27 PB (course) + PB (ever!) A six-peat PB race! I am soooooooo happy! It only gets better as I run Michelle in for her Olympic distance finish and we find out she has finished third in her age group. One of us medaled! What a fantastic way to end an amazing holiday!

Belwood - August 5, 2007

I am really nervous. I am wondering why I felt compelled to do a longer distance than the nice half-Olympic sprint I am used to. I know I can complete the race but I also know it is going to hurt!

I stay overnight at Michelle’s before the race so we will be closer to the start. She prepares an awesome carb-loading pasta dinner that we top off with a trip to DQ.

Sunday morning arrives too early and we make our way to Belwood Conservation Area by Fergus, Ontario. We arrive closer to the start time than we like yet because it is a smaller race there are still plenty of primo parking and racking positions. I even have time to warm up my run, bike, and swim. It makes me feel more comfortable to fit my warm-up in and also to remember the course.

We line up on the boat launch area for the entrance to the swim. I position myself at the back of the group as I don’t want a repeat of Peterborough with other swimmers pushing down my feet. Michelle and I are both in the fourth of five waves. When the siren goes off we pick our way down the ramp into the water as there are even rocks on the boat ramp. The water is nice and warm and other than a couple of pushing matches near the beginning of the swim I am left alone. The water is clearer than I remember and the lake is weedless. Things to be thankful for as I swim the LONG 1K loop. The buoys for this race almost reach the shore on the other side of the lake which is quite intimidating. I go at my own pace and feel fine throughout the swim though at the halfway point I have to wonder when it will ever end! On the way back I use the dam for sighting and don’t have to look up as often. By the last 100-150m I am back to my typical zig zag swimming. I must be tired but I pour on an additional effort as I know it almost over. Swim: 32:48

I’m very dizzy as I exit the water. With the longer effort and rocks on the bottom I drunkenly spill out of the water and run up the hill to transition. Why is transition always at the top of a hill? T1: 2:01

I start out on the bike feeling really good. I am not hyperventilating as I did at the last three races. The route is quite flat to start and it is very windy. I spend as much time as possible in aero, dropping to my drops when my shoulders can’t take the aero effort. In my drops my back is just as low as in aero though I lose some aerodynamics with my shoulders being more open. At the 10K mark I am ready to head back in as I would in a usual spring but alas with this race I am not yet 1/3 finished. The course is a loop which I love for training rides and hate for races. There are few other riders around me and I am not motivated. I start to enjoy the scenery too much and have to remind myself that I am still in a race. The 33K mark eventually comes and I am ready to hop of the bike and begin the run. Bike: 1:19:09

There are some finishers already in transition. The cruelty of it all. I hasten to get out on the course. T2: 1:30

The run is almost completely flat and on a trail that is easy on the legs. Unfortunately it does not offer much for shade and it is now approaching noon. I make the decision to stick to 10 + 1’s as I want to pace myself for the longer than usual effort and I have already given up on my goal time as it would require a 50 minute run that I do not feel capable of. I decide to think of it as simply a training run and to pace myself accordingly. There are lots of water and Gatorade stations and I am pleased to note at the two turnaround points that I am actually ahead of a few people. I even pass a couple of people in the run. I take my last walk break right before my last km and try to sustain a tougher effort. I am shocked to discover at the end of the run that it is a PB for me on the course by 3 minutes. It enables me to sneak in a new overall personal best by 15 seconds! Run: 50:42 PB

Triathlon: 2:46:09 PB.

I decided during this race that doing a triathlon could be likened to what I have heard about childbirth. While you are going through it you are wondering why you are doing it and vow never to do it (or at least this length) ever again. When you cross the finish line the pain is instantly forgotten and all you feel is the thrill of having completed the race. Which brings me to my next question of myself: I am currently registered in the Riding Mountain Olympic distance triathlon in two weeks. I could still drop down to the sprint distance. I know I can complete the Olympic and probably even get a PB but I also know it is likely that I will be last in the field and that it is going to be very painful. If I do the sprint I will have a fun, stress-free race but will I feel I didn’t deliver to my potential? The dilemma unfolds…Stay tuned for my decision…

Birthday Weekend - July 28-29

Why is it everyone goes on holiday during my birthday? Luckily Michelle came through once again and the two of us headed to Pinery at Grand Bend for a weekend of camping. We took our bikes with us but they didn't leave the rack all weekend. :( Michelle was nursing a bug and I had to do a couple of runs to keep up with my Half Marathon training. Saturday was only a 4K but on Sunday I ran 15K over two hours. The campground was so huge that I didn't cover a fraction of it over that time!

The weather was fantastic and the natural beauty of the park was wonderful. We had some beach time both days - my first this summer! I even had time to finish reading Harry Potter. Overindulged in snacks and ice cream cake so now am on the straight and narrow as I head into a race this weekend. I'm doing Belwood on Sunday. I'm a bit concerned over its longer length but know that I will persever. 'til next time!

Blue Mountain - July 21-22

Another race-free weekend. I could get used to this! I spent this weekend at my place at Blue Mountain with my friend Michelle and her sister-in-law Chantal. On Friday night Michelle and I disappointed Chan by heading back to the condo after only a couple of drinks at Windy O’Neils, choosing an early night in order to get some rest for our ride the next day. Saturday morning we took out our mountain bikes and covered the Georgian Trail from Blue Mountain to Meaford and back. It was fun to be back on my mountain bike. Though it is very old it is still functioning well and is oh, so much more comfortable than my road bike. The ride ended up being 63 km. I felt great throughout. Chan impressed me with her ride out as she hadn’t biked much this season. She did pay for it on the way back though as she dropped further and further behind. On the one 500 m section of what could be termed single track on the whole ride, Michelle elected to sacrifice herself rather than a couple of seniors on a corner so had some battle scars – skin loss on her arm and cool bruises on her hip/thigh – to prove her mountain bike riding cred the rest of the weekend.

The next day Chan opted out of the training run I had planned so Michelle and I dragged ourselves away from the mountain stage of the Tour de France for a 14K run. (OK, Michelle dragged me kicking and screaming away from the TV I was hugging.) We did the other part of the Georgian Trail heading towards Collingwood this time. The run went by so much faster having someone with me. Post-run Michelle dove right into the swimming pool only stopping to take off her running shoes. I took a little more time getting there only because I needed to gulp down another litre of water first! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and hobbling around the village feeling good about the weekend’s efforts.

Training weekend - July 14-15

Not much to report. On Saturday I rode in St. Jacob’s. Not a great ride as the area reeked of manure and a red minivan decided to use me as target practice in an intersection after I signaled my turn perfectly clearly. Crazy-ass minivan drivers! The awesome farmers’ market was the only thing that salvaged the day.

Sunday was better. I didn’t leave home as early as anticipated as the Tour de France Alp stage was wicked! Once I did, I headed to Hilton Falls for some trail running. I LOVE trail running! The time just flies by as I maneuver myself up and down hills, across rocks, and over roots. I did a 9.5k trail followed by a 4K trail. In the end I ran almost two hours. I skipped my swim as I needed some chill time after the run more badly.

I’ve decided to register for Belwood on the August long weekend as it will be good to do a race in between the short sprint and Olympic distances before my Olympic race in Manitoba in August. I’ve only done Belwood once before and it was an interesting day as the swim headed off into a dense fog and I did the ride on my road bike for the first time. Other than the swim I had a pretty good time so it may be a challenge to get a PB. Something to strive towards!

Peterborough Sprint - July 8, 2007

Photos above: Me “relaxing” after the race. Michelle doing her strip-tease act in the transition area post-race. For the first time this season my friend Michelle and I competed in the same race so I lost my official race photographer and had to settle for post-race photos for my blog.

Michelle kicked some serious butt in the race coming in at 15th in her category of 38! She scored 10th in the bike, averaging over 30 km/hour! Unfortunately Michelle was also the biggest bad-ass in the group of over 400 and ended up getting disqualified after the race for having “words” with a race official. Michelle assures her fans that the race official was being unreasonable.

As for my race, I didn’t have a great feeling about it from the beginning. My allergies were really acting up this last week and I was woken on Sunday morning by Michelle’s Blackberry alarm going of at 5:00 am and could not get back to sleep. In transition before the race I was accidentally smacked in the face by male athlete warming up doing shoulder rolls. Not a great omen.

The siren goes off. I dolphin dive a few times into the lake. I feel like a goldfish in a goldfish pond competing for food thrown in by a tourist. The water is thick with bodies and I can’t find my spot. I keep getting my legs pushed down which is throwing me off. I concentrate solely on my breathing, getting it under control. The whole swim continues in this vein, fighting other swimmers off, avoiding flailing legs and arms. Two women in my age group block me doing an assortment of strokes – sidestroke, breaststroke, freestyle – the whole race. I am determined to beat them. One gets out of the water right before me. I run as fast as I can to get past her into transition. Score! I know I have beat at least two people in my age group in the swim. (After checking results, I find I actually beat four – making the swim the strongest part of my event.) Swim: 21:17

It was raining when we started the swim but it is now bright and sunny. Like Muskoka, I have to change back my sunglasses lens to something darker for the bike. T1: 2:47

I couldn’t warm up the bike as the fight for transition spots was fierce in the morning and I didn’t want to risk losing my spot by unracking my bike. I run past five people out of transition and get on to find that my guess as to the right gear to start was correct. The bike is a series of short and steep hills. I am working hard and breathing hard yet I can’t seem to go as fast as Guelph. I am trying to be as aero as possible as there is a strong wind. I gear change too quickly as I fly down one hill and dump my chain. A horrible place to do it as I now have to stop at the bottom of the next steep hill to put it back on. Two runners happen to be there and assist me in getting it into the right gear for the hill. One even pushes me to get me started on the hill. I don’t even think at the time that I should not be accepting aid. I’m just so grateful for the help. Don’t tell the OAT officials or Michelle won’t be the only one DQ’d! Bike: 49:24 T2: 2:15

I run out from transition and then stop dead in my tracks. I don’t know which way to go! They changed the course since the previous year. Luckily someone sees my dilemma and tells me. The run course is now through the park instead of through town. It’s a lot of grass running which is slower than concrete but I don’t mind as it is also a lot cooler. I am not terribly motivated because I know that even with a PB run I can no longer get a PB on the race because of my swim and bike times. I still run as best as I can only taking one 30 second walk break. I experience some cramping but nothing like the stitches I usually get. I try to really push it the last couple of km’s thinking the faster I race, the faster it will be over! In the end I come within hundredths of a second of my run PB. Run: 36:28 Total time: 1:52:09

Next up: I’ve registered for the Olympic distance of the Riding Mountain Tri at the cottage in Manitoba on August 18. I may do Belwood on the August long weekend as its distance is halfway between the Sprints I have been doing this season and the Olympic. Stay tuned…

Canada Day (training) weekend

Photos above: Me getting mauled by a black bear at Santa's Village and Deborah annihilating me at mini-putt.

No races this weekend. Took the opportunity to do a few day trips and get some training in. Friday: Left work early afternoon and headed to Lake Kelso for a 30K bike ride and 30 minute swim. Made it up the evil 6th line hill. A very scenic ride that is brutal outbound and oh so short and sweet on return.

Saturday: Got in a 12K run on the Beltline before meeting Deborah and driving to Niagara. While Deborah wandered around NOTL I got in a short fun 20K bike ride on the paved trails. Some silly pedestrians but not as much bike traffic as expected. I wish my competition was as slow as these people on bikes.

Sunday: Did a hill training run in the morning. Flew up the hills in Mount Pleasant cemetary. Unbelievable. Could I be improving at hills? Probably just the cool, temperate weather. Later picked up Deborah and headed to Muskoka for Canada Day which is where the photos above were taken.

Monday: Time for one more serious training day. To Guelph Lake for a 40K bike ride. Love the countryside there for cycling. Good roads. Very little traffic. Other cyclists around. Some challenging hills but nothing too killer. Afterwards got in a 35 minute swim.

Next race: Peterborough on Sunday! I love that race. I tend to do well there. Usually I'm inspired by the Tour de France by that point but as it only starts Saturday I can't rely on that as motivation. My goal: 1:50 which is better than the last two years but not quite as good as my PB of 1:47:57. Stay tuned...