So, I've had a number of people ask how the race went, so I thought I'd write it all down in case you have any interest in reading about it.
For a bit of background, I did this race last year. It was a pretty miserable race, with bad weather (it rained all day, and absolutely poured during the run) and a run course that went through the golf course passing back and forth in front of the finish line, taunting us as we suffered. I got through it, but ended up running too hard in the first half of the run and walked it in for a 5:34 finishing time.
year, we got almost the perfect day for a race. The morning started cloudy and somewhat warm, and it stayed that way until about noon when the sun came out. The only downside was that it got very warm by about 1:30, so those who were out on the course longer really stated to suffer. The swim course was changed a little from last year. Instead of starting at the dock in the water, this year it was a beach start which made for a little more chaos at the start of the race. At least this year, I remembered to bring my timing chip with me, so I had time to actually get in to the water to get used to it. This was lucky for me, because the water temperature had dropped overnight from 72F to 65F. It was a bit of a shock the first time it came into the wetsuit. It also meant that I got to actually watch the start of the pro races. It's always a bit of a sight to behold, those guys swim fast. They were past the halfway point by the time my wave started. It was maybe my best swim in any of the triathlons I have done. Not that it was super speedy as it was a 36 minute swim, but I never once got disoriented or off course. It was a good four minutes faster than last year, and I even passed a large number of people from the wave in front of me. Given that the waves were six minutes apart, that's a lot of ground to make up. I also took advantage of the wetsuit strippers at the swim finish, mostly because I was having trouble finding my zipper string. Now I realize I was an idiot to pass them by. Running that 750m uphill without the wetsuit on is so much easier. (Time: 36:41)
Now I hit my first delay of the race. Reaching the transition I had to make a pit stop. It was a minute I hated to lose, but I would have been uncomfortable on the bike otherwise. (Time: 5:51)
The transition onto the bike went smoothly. Got the sand off the toes, socks and shoes on, sunglasses, race number and helmet. My new race helmet that is. Stupid me went and forgot my helmet back in Ottawa, and since I had to buy a new one, I decided to spend the extra money and get an aero race helmet. Easy run out to the bike course, as my age group got the prime spots right next to the bike out, and away I went. I heard from Crys later that there were dozens of people who got out on the bike and about a kilometer down the road before they realized they forgot something and had to run back to the transition zone. Thankfully that was not me. For those of you who have never been to Muskoka, it's very hilly to say the least. Most of the ride you are going uphill or downhill. The only real flat on the whole ride is along highways 35 and 117 between Dwight, Dorset and Baysville. Even then, there are climbs scattered along the route. I spent most of the ride in amoungst various groups where I would pass everyone on the uphill only to have them all go by me on the downhill. Then repeat, over and over again. It's a rough ride, and it gets into your head sometimes. Many people I have talked to say they often think about giving up in the long stretches between towns. I had a few of those, but I always manage to drown out that voice and soldier on. The bike was where things started to go badly for a while. The first thing to go wrong was hitting a small bump, and suddenly there is a clicking noise whenever I peddle. I think I have broken my derailer and that my race is over. I stop, turn my bike over and start checking things. Nothing wrong with the front. Nothing wrong with the back. Turn the pedals and there is still a clicking. Then I finally find it. A cable on my back brake (which is located right below the bottom bracket on a race bike) has come loose. It doesn't affect the brakes, but it is sticking through my crank and making all that noise. I just have to reclip it, and I am back and running, but I've lost a couple minutes and had time for my legs to get cold. I suffer and get back up to speed. I get back into the zone and start catching up to people. Then I overshift, and throw my chain on my back derailer. I stop, and fix it quick, but there is another minute. Then I do it again on an uphill. I stop to fix it and struggle to get going on a climb. All this has me a little flustered and not thinking quite clearly. This is where I make my biggest mistake of the ride. I've lost the group in front of me, and am basically riding all alone - no one in sight in front or behind. Going down a hill, there is an intersection with a cop controlling traffic. Seeing me coming, he stops the cars turning left. Seeing that, I thought we were going straight through. I blast down the hill, through the intersection and start powering up the long climb afterwards. About two kilometers on, and long past the crest of the hill, a car catches up to me, and tells me I WENT THE WRONG WAY. I was supposed to turn to the right, though why they were stopping traffic then, I don't know. I turn around, and thankfully it is all downhill. But now I am totally messed up mentally. I just give it, trying to make up whatever time I can. Going downhill like a maniac, powerclimbing uphill. Going way harder than I should be. I'm now right off the game plan. I don't catch up to everyone, but I do get past a bunch. But I am pretty bagged getting back into transition. The scariest part is that despite adding 4km on the ride, I am over five minutes faster on the ride than last year. At least it is done. (Time: 2:57:29 - who knows what it could have been had things gone better?).
My brain still wasn't quite right as I transitioned between the bike and the run. I swapped gear well enough (though I had to move orthotics from bike shoes to run shoes as I left my bike orthotics at home!) but when I started to run, I tried to go out the bike out. Thankfully someone stopped me before I crossed the mat, as I think that might have resulted in a DQ as it would have messed up the timing. I turned and headed back out the right exit. As I did so, I hear over the speaker that the male leader, Craig Alexander, is coming into the finish chute, and that he averaged 3:15/km over the last 5km of the run! Right after that announcement, he goes running right by me. No time to worry about it now, though, as I still have a half marathon to run. (Time: 2:01).
I've been pretty worried about the run leading up to this race. Because of the injury in Boston, I only got back to running in June, and significant long runs only started in late July. There was only one training run that was more than 20km. Not to mention how badly this course kicked my ass last year, forcing me to walk the last half of it. With this in mind, I tried very hard to be conservative as I ran. It was hard, I kept having to think about slowing down as my legs insisted on going aboutr 4:15/km. On a flat course this would not be so bad, but there were a lot of hills on this course. In fact, the stretch from about 6km-10.5km was almost one continuous uphill. Still, the changes that they made to not have us run the golf course at the end proved to make it a better run than last year. It was about the same time I started on the run that the sun came out and the temperature started to climb. At about 2km, I had to pause for a minute as my calves were already starting to cramp and dig out a salt capsule from my race belt. Let me sing the praises of the salt capsule right here and now. I always thought that I was getting enough with the various sports drinks, gels, etc., along with getting lots of salt in my diet the day before. This race made me realize just how wrong I was. I took that pill, drank some water and started running, and my calves just loosened right up. I was shocked, to say the least. I had put three of these in my race belt, as a 'just in case' measure, and I ended up using all three of them. I actually stopped around the 5km mark to offer one to a guy who seemed to be having calf cramps, but he didn't want it (it turned out to be a twisted ankle). I hate to say it, but I am glad he didn't want it. Despite all this, it proved to be a challenging run course none the less. At about the 8km mark, I had to walk one of the larger hills. I just couldn't get the heartrate down going up a fairly steep incline. It was at this point I decided that I would take to walking the water stations and run it in 2km blocks. This was probably my best decisions, as it had me averaging about 4:40/km. While I would have preferred to have run the whole thing, I think I was just lacking the base for that having only been back on my run legs for three months. As I came towards the finish chute I could see the clock, and that it was at the 5:36 mark. I felt a twinge of disappointment as I had hoped to beat last year's time of 5:34, but I just gave it. That is a long finish chute as you have to circle the whole transition zone before you cross the line. The moment I crossed everything just wanted to drop right there, but I kept walking around trying not to just pass out there. In the end, a slightly faster run than last year, and I feel less like the course got the best of me. (Time: 1:41:42)
So my total time was 5:38:44. Or that's what I thought with my tired brain. It wasn't until Crys found me and reminded me that I started 15 minutes after the official time, so my actual time was 5:23:44, which is close to 11 minutes better than last year. 207 overall, and 27th in my age group. Had the ride gone better, I think I might have managed even better a time, but no point wasting time on 'ifs'. It was done, and I wasn't after a Clearwater spot this year since I will be running Athens that weekend. I'm just happy that it was an improvement over last year. Despite all I say about this race, I really like it. It's well organized, it's a great location and it's a challenging course that makes you feel like you really accomplished something special when you're done.
He's crazy, but he's my hero.
