Last weekend I decided to race the Mine Over Matter off-road
tri in Milton, which happened to be named the first ever Canadian National
Championships for the discipline. I had been planning it as part of my race
schedule all year as a bit if a mid-season mental break from the grind after
spending so much time on the roads for Mont Tremblant. So the timing worked
well, not to mention I don’t have a rear wheel for my tri bike anyway!
So I spent the two weeks after Tremblant hitting the trails
trying to prep for a completely different style of racing. Training went fairly
well given that it was still a bit of a recovery period, and I
tried to soak in as much technical practice and leg strength as possible in
less than 10 days of prep. I even went to preview the Milton course a week
early with fellow London athletes Alex Vanderlinden and his coach Cliff
Warden-Rogers. It was invaluable to see the trail and find our lines, and good
practice to ride with some guys that know how to thrown around a mountain bike.
Swim:
My swim got off to a bit of a rough start as I tried to mix
in with the 6-7 pro men there and promptly got one side of my goggles knocked
off and swallowed some water. Guess I was due for it as I’ve had
very clean starts so far this year. Despite only racing two weeks ago I felt sluggish and struggled to focus. But I got my goggles fixed then I relaxed on some feet for the first 500m before finding my stroke and picking
off swimmers through the last 500. Not my best swim but no need to stress!
(photo courtesy of Alex & Ben Vanderlinden)
Bike:
I had mentally prepared myself for the inevitable power
spikes and red lining similar to a draft-legal bike, and I know that I have
good high-end power to cope. And I felt fairly confident that I could get
through the bike without dying. But I quickly learned that there is a HUGE
difference between riding a mountain bike, staying upright and hitting
my lines etc. and actually racing a mountain bike, pushing its limits
and maintaining a good average speed. Not to mention that we had previewed the
course on perfectly dry and fast conditions, and race morning brought rain and
ridiculously muddy and slick trails. I guess I wouldn't want it any other way for an off-road race, but it pushed the advantage to the mountain bikers (vs. posers such
as myself).
The course was two loops with only one or two slightly
technical sections and a tough climb on each lap. After clearing the first
technical part on the first lap I caught a bit of wet grass on a wide open
stretch of singletrack and went down pretty hard. Guess I wanted to get my money’s
worth for my first off-road tri. But that’s part of mountain biking so I was
immediately back on my bike but was stuck behind a couple riders that stopped
me on a couple sections before I got past.
I find that (being an XC noob) its very easy once you make one
mistake, to get way too uptight and over-brake everything and make even more
mistakes. But I managed to get through the only tricky descent much faster and
smoother than on our training ride and got some confidence back. After
finishing the last lap I was really starting to wonder what the hell I had
gotten myself into but I did my best just to not make any mistakes and stay on
my bike…I figured its always slower to crash than ride a little more
conservative.
I managed to get through the bike, losing a bunch of time to
the leaders and those who know how to ride XC. But only took the one spill and
rode pretty well through the technical sections. And considering I’ve never
owned a mountain bike until earlier this year, and until very recently I’d
spend more time walking my bike through the trail than riding it, I was
thrilled to still be somewhat in the race.
Run:
I felt good getting onto the run as I had a hard time
actually riding hard enough on the bike to get tired, but I kept it
conservative leaving T2 as I had a feeling we would be doing some climbing. The
first km was mainly uphill and as soon as we got into the trail section I
picked it up. As much as I felt completely out of my element on the bike, I was
totally comfortable on the run given how much trail running I do in training. I
had no problem taking on the aggressive sections. But there were some sections
that I was kicking myself for being so unprepared and too cheap to buy good
trail shoes. I know that I could be a good trail runner but learned the hard
way that just like anything else, you need the right equipment.
After about 6km of awesome trails (and an amazingly well
marked course) we were back onto gravel and I tried to pick it up again. I knew
that I had good fitness coming off Tremblant and it felt good to have some more
to give through the last 2km. I passed about 8-10 people (some relays) on the run and crossed
the finish line in 9th and first in my age group.
(photo courtesy of Alex & Ben Vanderlinden)
Overall I was once again really happy with my effort on the
day. Despite my super-concentrated ~10 days of prep, I was handed a good ass
kicking on the bike and it was humbling to have my weaknesses exposed and have
to suck it up and get through it anyway. I loved the run and can see that as my
strength if I decide to give off-road another go. My goal was to win my age
group (national title!) and I accomplished that. But for now I’m excited to get
back to the “easy” stuff on the road and see what kind of strength I have
developed from all the hills on the trail.
Next up is one of the biggest races of the year in Canada,
another National Champs at the Toronto Triathlon Festival. For me it will serve
as a fast and hard prep race leading into the K-Town Long Course Tri, but it
will be great to race through downtown TO in a crazy competitive event. I’m not
sure what to expect there with the level of competition and given that I don’t
remember the last time I’ve gone through a full summer with everything (mostly)
going to plan. But I’m going on good fitness and focus…so it would be nice to
break the 2 hour barrier (my best Olympic is 2:03 a few yrs ago) or get on
another Nationals podium.
(my poor baby got dirty!!!)
