Welland Half

I'm not usually one to get sentimental but this race report has been a year in the making. For a while now I have been putting a lot of energy and training focus on the 70.3 distance, with nothing to show for it. DNF in St Croix in 2010, DNS at this race last year, flat tire and another DNF in St Croix this spring. After gaining some maturity as an athlete and putting in a s**t ton of training hours I was starting to get the feeling that I may actually have it in me to finish one of these damn things. But with my luck in the past the whole race was still a huge unknown.

So just like last year Amanda and I hit the road to Niagara for Multisport Canada's Welland race weekend. Amanda did the sprint on Saturday, and after three straight weeks of racing she was dealt a tough hand and showed a lot of resiliency toughing out another awesome result (maybe I'll start writing race reports for her too).

I started to get pretty nervous on Saturday night and woke up on race morning with more nerves than I have had in a long time. I had put in the hours, I'm a completely different athlete both mentally and physically than last year, but the thought that I was actually capable of getting it done this time actually added a little more pressure. Long course racing isn't just a different distance, its a completely different sport and I had no idea how to put together a 4-5 hour race.

Swim - 29:43 (1:29/100m)

The swim was a mass start of about 500 people in the Welland cannal. I lined up front and center, and apparently no one else knew that its much faster to start horizontally for an in-water start than bobbing around until the gun goes. At the 60 second announcement I heard a (female) voice behind me..."if you kick me in the face I'm going to f***ing kill you." I gently splashed a few times to claim my space.

As with any mass start the first 400 was complete chaos, and despite being one of the stronger swimmers I found myself in the washing machine with a number of strong athletes in the field, and many more just taking it out way too fast. I was finally able to settle in around 500m and focus on recovering and finding a rhythm for the rest of the swim. I was leading a chase pack of athletes through the majority of the swim, trying to bridge up to some of the leaders without digging too deep. It was hard at times to stay focused swimming in no man's land, in a straight line for a kilometer. I was starting to wonder if I was swimming well at all but tried to bring myself back to focusing on my stroke. At about 1500m, with it starting to feel like a really long swim, I found myself in a group of 4 or 5 and we all came in together. By far my best open water 2k but still room for improvement.

Bike - 2:20:16

With a 400m run up to transition I decided it was best to pull off my wetsuit ASAP rather than run all the way up to transition in it. After a quick pit stop I ran past everyone I had come out of the water with, and had the fastest T1 of the entire race.

All of the talk about this race is how flat and fast the bike course is. And its true...there was literally one time all race that I had to change gears.  I was looking forward to having a strong ride and putting down a fast bike split, but 90k is still a long way to race for me. The first 10k was effortless as I made my way through some riders and my average speed was close to 39 with a slight headwind. At 20k I was passed by one of the strongest riders in the race and since I was feeling pretty good I decided to pick it up a notch and keep him in sight (mistake #1 - race within your own limits). I kept a strong but manageable pace through 30k when I went through a couple small groups (some of which in the swim-bike and duathlon) and got really motivated to be moving through the field. I went through 40k in 1:01 and was still feeling comfortable in the aerobars.

At 55k there was a short out-and-back which was the only chance to see who was ahead. At that point Nigel Gray was off the front with a small chase pack of 4 or 5 riders close behind only 3-4k ahead. My friend Chris Pickering was close behind me as well. As I made the turn looking forward to a bit of a tailwind home I started to realize that I may have pushed my luck with my pace going out. I backed it off a little to try to recover but I was still hurting for the next 10k. I started to wonder how the hell I was going to run a half marathon after all of this. Chris passed me at 70k at the start of a road that was 15k of completely flat and straight riding, and I definitely lost a bit of focus there as I got more and more uncomfortable through 2 hours of riding in the aerobars. I tried to refocus and told myself that if I finished strong I could still break 2:20 (mistake #2 - don't fight for seconds on the bike with a 21km run coming up). After watching the meters tick by on my Garmin I finally got back into town and was in good spirits seeing Amanda as I got into T2. With a good swim and bike I was happy with where I was at - a very good run would put me under 4:20, and I just needed to survive to break 4:30.

Run: 1:35:55.......

I really had no idea what to expect on the run, not only with it being a half ironman run, but with the doubts in my mind all week of my poor run in Leamington and my heel that was still badly bruised. I decided to wear extra cushiony socks and shoes hoping it wouldn't bug me. I settled into a good rhythm of 4:00 k's through the first 3k, which like on the bike, felt comfortable at the time but was way too fast. I quickly realized you can't take a long course race out at goal pace and try to hang on, you HAVE to start very conservative and build throughout.

At 4k my quads started to cramp and I hoped to hell it wouldn't get any worse. I was starting to make up ground on some athletes ahead. My quads slowly loosened up but it was replaced by my feet going completely numb, a feeling that stuck around for the next 10k. I tried to slow my pace to 4:10-4:15/km and still felt ok through 7k. Somewhere between 8 and 9k was the first really rough patch I experienced and my legs were screaming at me to walk. I started to hit survival mode and was grabbing coke at every aid station. I started wondering how the hell I was going to run 21km, but when I made it to 10k there was some comfort in knowing I had gotten that far without completely falling apart yet. But my legs were already shattered. I told myself that if I had to walk a few steps it wouldn't be out of giving into weakness, but so I could run harder for the next 10 minutes. I started walking the aid stations, something I hope I don't have to do again in a 70.3.

After a short walk and guzzling some coke and water at an aid station, I actually started to run well through 10-15k. But at 16k near the final turnaround my quads and hip flexors started to lock up. It was pure survival...just get back to the finish. I could not get my heart rate up at all but I could barely lift my legs with every step. At 19k we finally fnished the 2 lap out-and-back section and were on our way back to the finish but there was nothing left to try to pick it up. I was trying to make deals with myself - only 10 more minutes, I'm gonna collapse and chug 3 chocolate milks when I finish, only 8 more minutes, I'm quitting triathlon after this. I have never suffered like that before. My last km was probably over 5 minutes, not for lack of effort or motivation to cross that damn finish line. I finally saw it with about 400m left. I don't remember finishing but I do remember collapsing into a first aid chair and having my temperature taken. They were asking me if I was ok and all I could respond with was "coooooke....." Amanda came over and ran to get my some sugar. I was trying to tell them that I was really ok, I just could not activate my quads to get up.

I spent the next half our laying on the ground, literally unable to move or walk (and I heard at least one person call me a baby) until I finally loosened up a bit and got some food. I exchanged some war stories with Chris and a few other athletes before heading over to the finish to watch some friends cross.

All things considered I am really happy with the race. This was a race of overcoming bad luck and facing the unknown. The only thing I knew for sure was that I would blow up at some point, I just didn't know when. I certainly was hoping for better than a 1:35 run split, I'm more than capable of running 10 minutes faster. I'm really happy with my swim and bike, and I gained a ton of experience with pacing, and more importantly proving to myself that I am in fact capable of finishing a race like that. A little more fitness and some better pacing strategies and I'm confident I can knock a ton of time off and not put myself in the hurt box so soon.

So after such a big focus on long course for the first half of the season its time to figure out where to take things from here. I didn't get many MSC series points as it was a very competitive race, so I am still planning on racing at least 4 more events. I'm looking forward to a couple shorter races to test my speed, but I'm actually looking forward to putting myself through that torture again. Now that I know I can finish I'm excited to give it another shot and see how it goes.

Leamington Triathlon Race Recap

After what seemed like letting half the season go by before hitting another start line, I finally have some news and I finally saw a finish line for the first time this season! It seems like this happens every year...that despite my best efforts in planning racing schedules I'm impatiently waiting until mid or late June to actually get things rolling. But I have put some really good training in over the past 6 weeks since St Croix in preparation for a season of chasing points in a series of 4-5 Multisport Canada races, first and foremost at the Welland Half this weekend (more on that later).

So just like last year the Leamington "Tomatoman" Triathlon (Leamington is a giant producer of tomatoes, made apparent by the Heinz plant encompassing about 90% of the town) was the final tune up before Welland, and it also served as Age Group Sprint Provincials. Amanda and I headed down to LPC headquarters the night before and had a 20min drive to the race site in the morning.

There were a lot of nerves at the race site prior to the 7:30am start time, and not just for the AG Worlds spots on the line (a feeling I understand having been there 4 years ago!), but also for the lightning hitting the lake about 1km from the swim start. There was some talk of it going to a duathlon, but after a torrential downpour during my bike warmup and a short 15min delay the race went off without issue.

Having learned from my mistakes last year and finding that there is a lot more chop and current in the (dirty and smelly) marina than it seems, I lined up on the far left of the start line hoping the current would push me towards the first turn buoy. After a few fast strokes I found myself to the left of a small pack of fast junior elite swimmers and let the current pull me towards them until I got in the draft. The water was quite choppy and a lot of swimmers were having difficulty navigating so I kept reminding myself to shorten my stroke and sight often. It seemed like every time I focused on that I would move through the string of swimmers, and I continued to keep the pace high and move forward. I came out with what felt like a good swim, and after a fast transition I got into the bike in 2nd place.

Knowing full well how much time and effort I have invested in the bike this year there wasn't much doubt in my mind in what I wanted to do on the bike course. But given how I felt on the bike in St Croix and it being my first "race" of the season, my goal was just to maintain a "relentless effort" on the windy bike course. And after years of racing on road bikes and cheap tri bikes, there was a bit of a psychological edge riding my pure TT setup of the P3 with 85mm front/disc rear, and my funky new Rudy Project Wingspan helmet. I took the lead at 5k, and at 10k I passed the leader of the duathlon that started before us. I have to say...of all the time and sacrifice I put into the sport, handling defeat, questioning why you're doing this, winning races etc., there is nothing that compares to the feeling of being on the rivet, chasing the lead motorcycle at 45km/h. That is what I live for in this sport.

But the feeling didn't last long, as Lionel Sanders - my sparring partner at LPC camp last year, and the only person in 5 years who has dropped me on the bike - was chasing HARD behind me. I pushed it as best as I could, hoping that he would push his luck trying to catch me. But damn, he is a tough bugger! He passed me with about 3k to go. Man its hard to stay focused when you get passed on the bike by a guy that you know is going to run a 15:30 5k. I just blocked all those negative thoughts out of my head and came into T2 18 seconds down. After another good transition he was about 100m up the road.

I knew that he is a world class runner, but I'm also confident in my running and my ability to put myself through hell when I have someone to chase. Unfortunately within the first step of the run my body wasn't agreeing with me. I sustained a bit of a foot injury the week leading up to the race, and while I didn't feel too much discomfort my calf was cramping right away from a week of walking funny trying to compensate for it. A few steps later it would not let up, and I found it very hard to try to let my heart rate come down a bit while running through it. It finally started to loosen up after about 1km, by which point Lionel was well up the road but I was at least limiting my losses.

After the first turnaround on the 2 loop course it was clear though that my run legs were just not there on the day. I just could not pick up my cadence and could not control my HR. With lots of fast little juniors chasing the 5k became pure survival, but with the amount of time Lionel and I put into everyone else on the bike our positions weren't going to change. I finished second in 1:00:29.

I was quite disappointed in my run given that if I ran anywhere close of what I am capable of I would have broken the hour barrier (the closest I have gotten was 1:00:07 last year) and could have easily been a minute faster. And it scared the crap out of me that I have to run four times farther in Welland. Not that I would have caught Lionel, who ran 15:40 off a 28:00 bike split and demolished Coach James' course record. But given my recent run training I know that it is not an accurate reflection of my fitness, and it could have been any number of things, but I am confident that my run legs will be there next time. I have a ton of positives to take away from this race. Probably my strongest swim-bike ever and led the race for 10k, good technical execution, just no run legs this time.

(CR holder, some guy with Batman suit abs, and me enjoying some CM)

But far more impressive than my result, Amanda swam strong through the rough water, lit up the bike course and ran to a dominating first career win!!! I got to see her riding hard in the lead on the out-and-back bike course, and then got to cheer her to the finish after taking 5 minutes off last year's race time! She is very humble about it but it was a breakthrough race for her and a fantastic performance. I'm hoping to find more pictures of both of us :)

So next up is Welland this weekend. It feels good to be back in race mode but I'm trying to stay focused in spite of the mental demons from this race last year. Luckily I vindicated myself from the whole wetsuite fiasco, as I had a spare wetsuit in my car for a fellow LPC athlete who had forgotten his at home for Leamington. I know I could not have prepared better for Welland and I am mentally and physically on a completely different scale than last year. But I am more nervous about this one than I have been for a long time. Maybe just because I am prepared to embrace the result, whatever it may be. I guess we will know in a week.

What's Been Going On?

You might be wondering what I have been up to over the last couple weeks with the lack of updates and race reports. Unfortunately sometimes plans have to change and life gets in the way of racing. But rather than talk about what I've been up to I thought I would share some far more interesting stuff that has gone on since my last post.

Ryder Hesjedal made history as the first Canadian to win a grand tour!! It was a very proud moment for Canada and Canadian cycling. But I think I will hold off the custom pink paint job on my Cervelo for now. If he wins the Tour I'll do yellow though...

Brent McMahon finished up a crazy 8 months of Olympic qualifying and it came down to him beating one athlete to earn Canada 3 Olympic spots for the men, thus getting him a spot to his second Games. He is a tough bugger and it will be cool to see Simon Kyle and Brent line up in a couple months. Speaking of which, the Olympics are fast approaching!

Between the Tour starting in less than a month and the Summer Olympics starting shortly after, I am strongly considering quitting my job and planting my ass on the couch for two months straight. Or maybe I will see if that will fall under paid leave.



And finally, yes I have been training. I was mistaken for someone actually competing at last weekend's Woodstock Triathlon...but I'll take the recognition for riding 100k into a headwind to get to the race site, then run off the bike. I was pretty bummed to see my buddies Alex and Mark battle it out on the course without me but I'm looking forward to finally getting my race season officially underway in two weeks time.

My slight change of plans has me once again at a local gem, the Leamington Tomatoman as my final tune up for the Welland half. Strangely Welland feels more daunting than St. Croix, despite the two being polar opposites in course profiles. And despite being very confident and proud of my preparation leading up to St. Croix, and having put in a lot more strong and specific training in the month since, I'm still nervous about Welland. Maybe it's that I fubar'd the race last year, or maybe it's that I know deep down that I am prepared to really fight it out at the front of the race, or that while it doesn't compare to STX the race is still worth a lot in terms of prize money (for the overall series).

After Welland I am hoping to add one or two more MSC events to make up for lost points from last weekend, but overall the season goals are still there and I am looking forward to a big year of racing. After such an intense preparation for an early season race it feels like I'm wasting time not having crossed a finish line yet this year, but I think I'm starting to get comfortable with the fact that nothing ever goes to plan.