This past weekend I took part in one of the new races in Ontario this year, Valens in the Subaru Series. My goal this season is to get to the start line of 70.3 Worlds fit and healthy (ie. not burned out) in September, and knowing my tendency to load up the first part of my season I've had to make an effort to be patient with my race schedule and not overextend myself...or my wallet, before the important events.
Since banking a solid half in Knoxville and a couple good races in June, July is kind of a transition period before the higher priority races with K-Town Long Course and Worlds coming up. Valens worked perfectly in my schedule as a short low-key event and about a 20 minute drive from Amanda's place in Guelph. I was also excited to check out the new event with what looked like a fun run course.
Despite spending a lot of time in Guelph and riding in the area, I had no idea that Valens Conservation Area existed until I saw the new race on the Subaru calendar. But it was a great venue for a laid back local race. After a quick warmup and surprise visit from Coach James and a couple LPCers we were off, and Amanda followed a couple waves later in the swim-bike.
After the cramping issues I had in Guelph Lake I decided to take a conservative approach to the swim and tried to stay smooth and relaxed rather than flailing through the 750m as I often do. Its hard to tell how the swim actually went with all of the swim times being quite slow but I kept my effort in check and was out of the water in 3rd or 4th with one athlete about 15 seconds ahead and another who swam very well about a minute up on me.
When I got on my bike and could see the flashing lights of the lead vehicle through the rain in the distance I knew it was just a matter of time before I'd get up there. But my run was a bit of a question mark heading into this one since I badly bruised my foot during a brick workout after Guelph Lake and hadn't really put in a decent run since. So I wanted to take the lead on the bike early and bank as much time as possible in case I wasn't running quite to my capabilities. I also had a bit of extra confidence in my aerodynamics thanks to my brand new Rudy Project Wing57 helmet, which was super comfortable on a windy and humid day.
After about 8k of heading into a strong headwind I passed the second place athlete as he was overtaking the leader, then I had a long section of tailwind to put my head down and try to get away. I haven't been in the lead of a race since 2012 before I had the setback of missing most of the season with a concussion...man it felt nice to be chasing the lead vehicle again :) My power wasn't great but my Garmin had my average speed at 39.2km/h for the 25.5k which I was pretty happy with given the conditions and the tricky exit/entrance into the park which I DID NOT want to champ just because I was in the lead.
The pre-race email for this event mentioned that the majority of the run course was on trails, and if it was raining they would likely get very muddy. So I took my lesson from Xterra Milton last year where I made the mistake of wearing racing flats on a greasy trail run, and brought my Salomon trail racers this time which turned out to be the perfect choice for the terrain and conditions.
I ran well through the first 2k and loved the trails, but after that I started to get some bad stomach cramps...my first thought was "sh*t not now", and then the more productive thought came, "try to relax and belly breath." My stomach was off the night before but I chalked it up to pre-race jitters and didn't think about it again until then.
Unfortunately it only got worse for the next couple minutes until at just before 3k I was doubled over throwing up. I was about to start feeling sorry for myself thinking how embarrassing it would be that the leader of the race might drop out. But lucky for me Coach James was running the opposite way down part of the run course at that exact time and said "you're in the lead, have no choice but to suck it up!"
There was only one turnaround where I got a chance to see that I still had a comfortable lead, and based on the pace that the second and third place athletes were running I just had to keep running to keep the lead. So the rest of my run was at "puke threshold" which was slower than my half ironman pace, but luckily enough to take the win.
I had mixed feelings as I crossed the finish line at what Amanda described as a lazy jogging pace. First off I was thrilled just to be finished because it was a very uncomfortable run. I was also really happy to finally get another race win after 2 seasons with a lot of podiums behind some strong pro's. Then I was disappointed that I couldn't enjoy the run course because I LOVE trail runs, and I could have run 3 minutes faster on another day. I also felt like it took away from the result that I had a disaster run but still won the race.
But ultimately I got what I needed out of the race, my swim was more controlled and I'm slowly putting the pieces together to swim well in September, another good bike split which has consistently been my strength this year, and I sucked up a mentally challenging run. If I wasn't leading the race I more than likely would have dropped out, and I adjusted my effort and expectations to meet the realities of the day. And I only had that cushion on the run because I had the fastest bike split by over a minute, and I've worked hard on the bike this year. So maybe it wasn't my best performance ever, but I've had to wait a long time for this one! Its exactly what I needed as I switch back to gearing up for longer distances again...a little extra confidence and fitness after consistently solid efforts in the first half of the season.
I was just as happy for Amanda who has faced a lot of challenges this year, but took the win in the swim-bike and threw down the fastest bike split of any female on the day. She's worked extremely hard despite things not going her way this year and I can't wait to see her put it all together with the effort she's been putting in.
