Belwood Race Report

Funny how triathlon works sometimes. You know that old saying that you can't win the race in the swim but you can lose it...well its true. In a 90 minute endurance event my race was essentially over in the first three seconds.

My swim strategy was to stay relaxed and steady, and get on the bike feeling strong. So at the swim start I lined up right behind Adrian DelMonte and Matt Reid hoping to stay on their feet, which would put me in great position out of the water. Unfortunately everyone else around them was a typical age group swimmer who lines up front and center, blasts the first 50 meters then blows up. It’s the first time I’ve had to deal with that this year and I was swimming over people within the first 10 seconds. I got more than a few kicks to the nose and goggles in the process. By 100 meters I had gotten past most of them just in time to see the front pack disappearing. So on the upside I had clean water for the the next 900m, but that left me in no man’s land which kind of set the tone for the rest of the race. I got out of the water in 15:45 (16:28 with the run up to TZ) and that might as well have been the end of my day.

I knew it was going to be a tough bike course with the last 15k almost constantly uphill and into a headwind, so I just put my head down and and tried to make up some time. I had a reasonable bike, averaged 36.1 so an improvement over my first two races of the year. I made up a lot of places but didn't put any time into the leaders Dave Sharratt and Ryan Smith, who were absolutely killing it out there.

I got off my bike and settled into a good rhythm of 3:30 k’s which was right where I wanted to be for the first 3k. But just as quickly as I got into my rhythm I really started to feel the last three weeks of training. I had nothing in my legs, I can’t even describe how painful and mentally defeating it is to be that exhausted in a race, knowing I have the fitness to run down almost anyone. I was full-on tying up by 3km, something you usually feel with 200 meters left…not 4km. So that put me in survival mode for the rest of the run, I tried to push it and it got me nowhere. I ran through 5k in 17:56 and it just got worse from there. In the end I ran 25:20 and did some serious damage to my calf in the process. I’ve never been in worse shape after a race, so I guess at least I gave it everything I could. Dave and Ryan both had stellar races and I didn’t get within the 8% margin of them so my elite card will have to wait until next year. No excuses, they were on today and I wasn’t, simple as that. Congrats guys, and to everyone else from the PTC who blew away the field today.

Overall it was a really disappointing day that I didn't get my 8%, my fitness is good but I just had nothing in the tank. I’m probably more mentally drained than physically at this point. Oh well, having a short memory is an asset to endurance athletes. Time to put it behind me and look forward to K-town in two weeks.

If I were to take one positive aspect out of this race, its that I know my hard work is paying off, and I’m really looking forward to Nationals where I’ll be on good form AND well rested. And the highlight of my race, top T2 time. 19 seconds. And no I didn't bomb through it, just stayed relaxed and had practiced a lot. Come one, I need something to be happy with.