Spring Update and Rev3 Knoxville

What happened to the first five and a half months of the year? It was the winter that never ended, and all of a sudden its race season in Ontario as of this week, and it seems like summer has caught everyone by surprise. I haven't even done an open water swim workout yet!

For those who read this (are you still there?) I have to apologize as it seems like racing is my only impetus to write. Someday I may feel the need to write more on my thoughts and opinions of this funny sport, but for the most part my "story" these days is similar to most triathletes out there. The everyday balancing act of getting in my training around work and life...sometimes I hate it, wish I could just train full-time and race elite, other times I'm sick of putting all of my spare time and money into the sport and regret that I can't afford any far away exotic travels this year. But for the most part I love the daily challenge of balancing it all, and just seeing where it all takes me.

This weekend was my first tri of the year, Rev3 Knoxville. But to give the full story of the race I need to back up and recap my winter/spring (as briefly as possible).

I left off last season with Ironman 70.3 Muskoka, my big A race of the year where I set the goal of qualifying for 2015 70.3 Worlds Champs in Mont Tremblant this September. I was really happy with my preparation, effort, and result and got my qualifying spot with a full year to prepare for Worlds.

I finished that race on such a high that I wanted to keep racing every weekend until the snow started flying. Unfortunately I had a minor nagging injury that I had to take care of first, so I called it a season despite my motivation being extremely high. Coming off a good race, having good fitness and plenty of motivation proved to be a difficult way to start the off-season. I set some solid but realistic goals for 2014 and couldn't wait to get rolling.

By the time the holidays came around I was still water running, having 3 different diagnoses on my foot/achilles/calf, none of which I was satisfied with and no amount of rest was helping. My power numbers on my bike seemed to be going down by the day and in the pool I was swimming slower than I had in years. It seemed like the harder I worked, the slower I got. On top of that I changed jobs and at times was working 50+ hour weeks. It was tough, and I let it affect my consistency when I was sick of feeling like every workout was a failure. I seriously considered just taking the year to play on my mountain bike every day. It was a feeling of discouragement that I hadn't had in years, and after coming off one of my best seasons ever I felt like I had gone backwards on every level.

I guess I still haven't gotten the whole "off-season" thing figured out yet, trying to balance a lighter training load, working on skill and strength, and being ok with occasionally seeing the numbers drop off in the short term for longer term gains. I was reluctant to even go to LPC Florida Camp for a while but I knew I needed a week away from the grind and some quality time with Amanda and all of our LPC friends. Rather than think of training camp as a "test" of my early fitness or a chance to boost my training, I used it as a big, warm and sunny reset button for my training, motivation and attitude.

Florida was exactly what I needed...I had some surprisingly good workouts at the start, had a few moments of feeling completely discouraged again when the fast guys were leaving me in their dust, then got my s**t back together and finished the camp with some great workouts on the hardest and longest days. It was a huge mental victory to know that my fitness was in fact there somewhere and I can thrive when fatigue is at its highest. It was also a huge bonus to have Amanda there, this time as an official member of teamLPC :)

So I came back to Canada (and snow, and indoor riding) with the goal of letting go of any thoughts of a "bad" winter of training, and letting Florida be a springboard for a strong and consistent spring of training. And instead of pushing back my race season until I deemed myself "fit enough", I decided to add some forced motivation and sign up for Rev3 Knoxville Half on the May long weekend.

Whether it was the fear of being unprepared for a half, or a change in attitude and expectations, I managed to put together a really solid block of spring training. I decided to take my power meter off my bike and ride by feel for a month and take motivation from FEELING good vs. determining the success of my ride based on my output. My run fitness came together, and I even hit a swim PB (the day after running a half marathon). My original goal for Knoxville was strictly to break 1:30 in the run...something I know I am more than capable of, and have been getting a little closer to each time (on progressively harder courses). But I started to get really excited to race!

Ok now for the race report...

I hit the road down to Knoxville with my title sponsor (aka mom) on Friday, and got there on Saturday just in time for the practice swim. I had a mini spaz attack when my new wetsuit that I was really excited to use felt extremely uncomfortable during my 15 minute swim but luckily I brought my old suit as a backup and decided I would use that for race day, and spend more time fiddling with the fit of the new suit when I have more time and patience.

I got my gear together, put my Powertap wheel on for the first time in over a month (having no idea what my power would be, I'd use it as a pacing tool rather than basing my effort off of it), and drove the bike course....

On race morning I felt good, but really nervous. I knew training had been going well recently but in the back of my mind I still thought about my less than perfect winter of training. I guess there's no better way to see where you're at than race a challenging half ironman in May!

Swim: 30:17

I had plenty of clean water starting the swim, and likely took it out far too relaxed because of that. I saw a small group ahead of me within the first 400m but I seemed to be content to sit on some feet and chill. My stroke didn't feel great and I wasn't sighting all that well so I figured I might as well save some energy and draft. I wasn't thrilled with my time, but given that it was my first open water swim and first wetsuit swim I can live with it. More importantly I felt really good getting out of the water and likely made up all of the time I may have gained from swimming harder to gain 30 seconds.

Bike: 2:34 (35.1km/h)

There was a lot of talk about how challenging the bike course is in Knoxville...overall I would say it is comparable in difficulty to Muskoka, although Muskoka is 4k longer (edit: my average speed was identical to Muskoka last year, but my average power was about 3% higher...so very slightly more challenging I guess). I felt strong getting on my bike and was riding through the previous waves of athletes from the Championship distance race that went off 15 minutes prior.

About 5 minutes into the ride I was moving really well, and all of a sudden it sounded like I had a flat tire. I got out of my aerobars and heard my tire ticking on every revolution. Being paranoid of what happened in Mont Tremblant last year when my tire bead blew out and locked up my back wheel, I stopped thinking I had a flat. I checked out my tire and it was still full pressure but found a gel wrapper stuck to it, which was dragging through my frame each time around. I regretted stopping so quickly before being 100% sure I had to, but given my history with flat tires I guess you could say I was just being diligent. And hey, 30 seconds in a 4+ hour race really isn't the end of the world. So on I went.

I have to admit that on the challenging course, riding through less experienced athletes from earlier waves, I had to make some daredevil passes on some of the descents not only to maintain my speed, but to stay safe vs. hitting my brakes on a fast downhill. So to those athletes that I scared the crap out off...ma bad. There were a few times in the first and last 10 miles (ie. the technical sections) that I got stuck behind vehicles, that were stuck behind slower athletes. It was a little frustrating, but nothing you can do about it. I mostly managed to pass safely without doing anything too stupid. Mostly.

At 25k into the bike my average power was about 10W higher than in Muskoka last year. It didn't feel too bad but I wanted to stay conservative, after all my goal was on the run. Around this point in the half there is an out-and-back section, and its the only point of the race where you can see your competition without the other race distances on the road. I was in 4th place, with one athlete (in my age group) just up the road, and 2 more about 2 minutes ahead. I let my motivation get the better of my pacing for a while and made my way into third. I was riding well but from 40-60k I basically saw nobody, with plenty of wind and rollers but little opportunity to get out of the aerobars. My power dropped a little, partially because I knew the big climbs were at 70-80k, and partly because it was starting to hurt. But after mile 40 the end seemed to be in sight and I managed to ride really well over the last 15 miles. I came off the bike feeling better than I ever have...for the first time I felt like I actually raced a 90k bike, vs. simply surviving. My average power was a good boost from Muskoka last year, and I felt comfortable and aero throughout.

Run: 1:28:39 (4:12/km)

Out onto the run I felt pretty good, but also felt the fact that it was my first race of the year and my body wasn't really sure what was going on. My legs didn't feel great but I got into a rhythm for the first 3-4 miles, ticking off roughly 6:30/mile (just over 4:00/km). Conservative but also realistic.

It started to turn hilly right around mile 4, starting with a very long and steep hill to the championship-distance turnaround (about 4.5 miles in). The half marathon then continued into a neighbourhood that didn't have any crazy steep climbs, but you were either going up or down long rollers for the next 2 miles out and back. I figured my pace was going to fall off, not fulling realizing how challenging the run course was. But when the turnaround came in sight I was in good position and still on pace for a 1:28 half.

I certainly didn't feel good coming back through the hills, but I managed to maintain my pace fairly well. Last year the hills would have destroyed my legs and killed my pace. When we finally got out of the neighbourhood and back onto the paths I kept my mind occupied by obsessing over exactly what pace I needed to maintain to break 1:30. As with the bike, it hurt, but I didn't really slow down at all. At 18k it was back onto the road to head back to the race site, and my pace finally started to drop. I had to really bring up my effort to get close to my goal pace. But there was no way I was letting that damn sub-1:30 slip. I dragged my butt over the final uphill to the finish, and it turned out I really didn't slow down much through the whole race.

I finished in 4:36 which was good for 4th overall, 1st in my age group by a decent margin. I'm not typically one to "sportstats creep" but it looks like I was only beaten by athletes who routinely are first-overall age groupers at IM and 70.3s. The winner who was only 3-4 minutes ahead of me is a 9:00 Kona/sub-4:10 half IM athlete, which is where I would like to be in the not too distant future. Long story short, I was really happy with my race and it was a huge confidence boost to achieve my running goal on likely the hardest run course I've done so far. I can't wait to see how my fitness reflects in Mont Tremblant, which seems FAST in comparison to Knoxville and Muskoka.

I got some pretty good swag for winning my age group too! Overall I'm always impressed with Rev3 events, and this was a nice surprise. I wish there were more around to compete with WTC...I'd choose Rev3 over Ironman every time, but sometimes it comes down to the closest and most convenient events.

So its back to the grindstone, and I'm going to put my early season fitness to use and have a go at some shorter distance Ontario events through June and July. I'm really looking forward to getting back to basics and racing hard at the local races through the summer that I often miss when I'm training for 70.3s.

Because Pictures Are Less Boring

 Well, its off season. And so far it has been successful, if success is measured by not getting really fat and not going stir crazy. I had been planning on a bit of a run focus through the fall but I have to wait for a few minor things to heal up before putting in big run mileage. So for now I'm busy planning the crap out of next season, and reflecting on a fun and full 2013 season. Lots of fun adventures and new challenges...it looked something like this:

 



 

 Tour of Bronte - 60k road race, half gravel roads. I have never suffered like that on a bike before. Average power for first 30min was around 330W, and about 5 watts below my FTP for 90 minutes of racing. Managed to get myself in good position for the sprint (and a cool photo), but as always, I was impatient and went too early. Still won my entry fee back!

 

Run for Retina 10k. Unfortunately sub-13 minutes was not my official time

 

MSC Woodstock, first tri in about 10 months. Great swim, good bike, bad cramp on the run.

I needed a confidence boost on my run before Mont Tremblant 70.3, so I raced Guelph Lake 8 days out. Probably my best all around race all summer!

 

What an experience Mont Tremblant was...venue, race organization, and my race. Another good swim, one of my best rides ever (except for the flat!), and a baby step forward on the run.

 

Smile has progressed to pain face....

 

And now sleepy time face. Finishing time there is not correct :)

 

Another interesting experience, my first off-road tri! I was so proud to race on my newly built custom Niner Air9. Survived the bike in insane conditions and ran well to claim a National AG win.

 

Two weeks later, this time Olympic distance Nationals. This is about where my race got better.

 

I had an ok swim, poor bike, and was ready to pack it in mentally. Then I got some great support in T2 and got my act together and ran well.

K-Town Long Course Tri...my steed's glamour shot

 

Managed a good swim despite a rough start

Out of T1 in good position, but I never found my biking legs.

 

Finished strong, but more importantly I learned how to suffer through a tough day in a long course race. Good lesson heading into my big race for the season.



Muskoka 70.3. My biggest victory with this race was how well I trained leading up to it. Had fun on race day and got my spot for Worlds next year.

 

Looks like I've made the transition to long course...visor on, gels in race belt, running slow.

 

Thank You

I wanted to start off my post with that because there were so many people who helped me get through Muskoka. Like Coach James for pushing me right to the edge in my training and nailing my prep and taper…my mom for occasionally fronting the cost of this ridiculously expensive sport…my amazing girlfriend Amanda for being the best spectator on course…and to everyone who gave me a message, comment or “like” on facebook, email and twitter leading up to and throughout my race. I didn’t even know I had that many friends!

I decided to race Muskoka just a few days after finishing the Mont Tremblant 70.3. While I didn’t quite have a “perfect” day in Tremblant I was undeniably hooked on the feeling of making baby steps towards learning and improving myself over the 70.3 distance. I wanted to be in control of my bike effort over the whole 90k, NOT GET A FLAT TIRE, pace my run well to avoid quad cramps, and most importantly try to grab one of the earliest qualifying spots for 2014 World Championships…which are in Mont Tremblant. I dedicated the rest of my summer to accomplishing these things.

But first things first, the day before my race Amanda and I went up to Wasaga Beach for one of the final Multisport Canada races of the season. On the morning of her race the weather really couldn’t have been much crappier, but she sucked it up and showed some serious focus and determination to post a well deserved run PB and another overall podium and AG win. Not to mention her dad who also dominated is AG once again. As soon as awards ended we were off to Hunstville for day #2 of a crazy weekend to end a long and busy season. I was lucky enough (or just diligent enough in my planning) to get a last minute room at the host hotel so race morning was pretty easy…taking the elevator down to transition.

Of course a 70.3 wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of race morning panic…and for me it was realizing that I didn’t pick up my timing chip at registration the day before. But I managed to track it down in the morning without too much difficulty. The hardest part of my pre-race was deciding on my bundle-up plan for the bike – it was nice and sunny but below 10 degrees getting out of the water. I decided on socks and toe warmers, and throwing on a dry bike jersey over my tri kit, with gloves and arm warmers in the back pockets in case it was really cold on the fast descents. Quick warmup and I was feeling really good.

Swim: 29:36 (1:29/100m)

I took the swim start out a little more conservatively than I usually do (I tend to champ the start) as I didn’t want to go anaerobic in the first 30 seconds of a 4-5 hour race. There was a bit of rough housing in the first 200m but I managed to keep my effort controlled and build throughout the course. I could tell my stroke was there and I was feeling good, and thanking Coach James in my head for getting me to the start line feeling strong and fresh. Despite a bit of crappy navigation on the back stretch trying to get around the swarms of scissor kickers from the earlier waves, the swim seemed to fly by and I was done before I knew it. I ended up swimming almost exactly the same as Tremblant and Kingston this year, but at a much more controlled effort and I couldn’t wait to get up the insanely long hill to get on my bike.

Bike: 2:41 (35.1 km/h)

I couldn’t help but laugh at myself with how long my transition took, taking off my wetsuit and putting on a full wardrobe of clothing before getting on with it. But I’m glad that I was prepared for the cold weather and had a specific plan when I got to my bike, it made my ride infinitely more comfortable. And somehow my T1 time was still much faster than most.

It was a great feeling to get on my bike and actually have to back off my power, compared to my last couple races in which I’ve really struggled to get my legs going. Although my 2:41 bike split doesn’t seem to be anything impressive I was really happy with every aspect of my ride. I rode technically very well, passing a ton of people on the descents and safely getting through sections where there were a lot of crashes. But most importantly I maintained my power targets on the uphills AND downhills. I’m really amazed at how much a power meter helps on a tough course like that, it made the course actually feel much flatter. I can’t even count the number of athletes who I would pass on a flat section, then see them grind back past me on an uphill, just for me to drop them again at the top and never see them again. All I could think was “you just added a minute to your run time right there.”

I was careful not to overgear the hills and keep my power below 300W on the way up, knowing that the real race starts about 10k into the run. I was comfortable in the aero position, even on all but the steepest climbs and judging simply by the speed at which I was passing everyone I knew I was riding well.  Through the first 60k I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about this bike course...it was beautiful, I was in complete control and having a blast. Then I turned a corner at 62k and found all the hills.

The last 30k of the course was definitely the hardest section and I struggled at times to stay focused, but for the most part I managed to hold it together without digging too deep. Through the last 10k I purposely brought my power down a bit…I was paranoid about feeling ok getting off the bike. And I managed to successfully pee myself while riding. This may seem ridiculous but when you’re on the run course and your body is looking for every excuse to stop running just for a second, having to pee does not help the mental battle.

I got off the bike feeling better than I ever have in a 70.3, despite the extra 4km of riding and 1000m of climbing. My goal was to average 240-245W and I was at 242 (3.41W/Kg)…a little more conservative than my ride in Mont Tremblant but my goal was a strong run so I executed my ride exactly how I wanted to. More importantly…NO FLAT TIRE!!!! That was the main goal of my ride, and I accomplished it J

Run: 1:32:59 (4:24/km)

Heading into T2 I wasn’t exactly sure my placing in my age group but I only saw one or two bikes on my rack in transition. As I got onto the run course I bottled up some motivation from friends cheering, and saw James who told me to stay relaxed and try to pick it up on the way back. My goal was to run 1:30 and it took me a few conscious efforts to slow down to that pace, which on the flats felt ridiculously easy.

At about 5k in the lead bike came the opposite direction past me. From a distance I thought to myself, “that guy doesn’t look like Raelert.” And the closer we got to each other, I realized it was in fact my old LPC Florida Camp sparring partner (he always won) Lionel Sanders, leading the race at 16k!  And not just leading, he had over a mile on Andreas Raelert. Holy shit! I know how hard that guy works and I was thrilled for him that he was going to get the win. I yelled some encouragement but had to relax myself after seeing him and tried to refocus.

Just as I was getting to a really quiet section of the course around 6k some of the mental demons were starting to creep in. Lucky for me, I have the best spectator ever. Who else but Amanda and her Balance Point cheering squad drove out to the middle of nowhere on the course to give me a big mental boost heading out to the turnaround!! I assumed that she was somewhere near transition and I had blocked out her cheering trying to stay focused, so it was a pretty awesome surprise. She told me that I was 6^th in my age group and was looking strong. I thought I was a little higher up but it was good reassurance that I was still within the top-7 to get a qualifying spot in my age group.

Only a few hundred meters later I passed an athlete in my age group (the one and only athlete who passed me on the bike course) who was now walking. Top-5, that’s a little better. I drew some strength knowing that I was moving up. The section from 6k to 10k (and back from 11-15k) was likely the hardest part of the run, but I got through it ok and unlike in Tremblant when it seemed like I was running FOREVER to get to the turnaround, it seemed to come relatively quickly. I was a few seconds ahead of my goal pace, but I was still feeling pretty good and brought my pace down to 4:00/km for the next few k’s. Back through the steepest climbs, my quads were just on the edge of cramping up, but actually loosened up on the downhills and I was still right around my goal pace.

Around 15k I saw another athlete ahead who was in my age group, but just as I came up behind him I started to get light headed and dizzy. I still had one of my three gels left, but it was close to 2km until the next aid station where I could get water to wash it down. I was desperate for some sugar but the thought of another (8^th) double latte gel was too much to handle without water. I rested for a few seconds before picking it up to pass the athlete but my pace dropped to 4:30s as I worked through my roughest patch of the race. Since I chose not to bank any time in the first half of the run I knew my run goal was starting to slip. When I got to the next aid station they were only serving athletes on the other side of the course, but my frustration actually got me back in gear a bit. I know that if and when I learn to stay focused through this section of a half marathon my run times will improve even more.

I managed to finally get to the next aid station where I took everything they were offering, and almost immediately I felt better and got my pace back up. Just as I got over one of the final hills James was out on the course and assured me that I had a spot locked up…he also gave some more coaching advice, probably something like “RUN FASTER” but all my brain heard was “its still really far to the finish line!” I dragged my ass over the last hill at 20k and enjoyed the finish much more than I have in my previous half irons. I ended up missing my run goal by 2 minutes, but I can’t be disappointed with that over such a tough course...and still 2 minutes faster than my run in Tremblant. I know my potential is there to run really well over this distance and it will slowly come through with more experience.

It didn’t really occur to me until after just how tough this course is…its not like there are any individual insane climbs like in St. Croix or the Rev3 Quassy run course, not even anything as difficult as the 70-80k section of the Mont Tremblant bike course. But it’s a relentless course that gradually gets harder and harder throughout the race. But I knew that I didn’t sign up for an easy one, and I couldn’t be happier with my execution. My pacing was a little smarter, my nutrition was a little better, and my rough patches are getting shorter and less rough every time I do a half. I know that I still have a lot more potential to get my times faster as I get more strength and experience with the distance, but for now I’m just fine with baby steps each time.

I ended up 4^th out of 105 people in a very competitive age group, and locked up my spot for Worlds next year. Its great to have a full year to dedicate towards one race, and I’ll continue chipping away at this distance until then. But for now this feels like a good time to end the season…on a good note with lots of motivation rather than racing until I’m completely burned out, as I usually do.

Once again I want to thank everyone who helped me through this one, it was one of my most memorable races for the support, the course and my effort.

More Race Reports!

 

Wow the summer is flying by way too fast! As most triathletes do, I define my summer by the number of races I do, the destinations I've gone to, and the quality of my performances. So by those standards so far this summer has been pretty awesome...no spectacular race wins, no exotic destinations, but I've been really happy with my performances and seen some good improvements, and still been to some cool events with good company.

 

After my "fun" block of training after Tremblant leading into XC Nationals, it was time to get some speed in my legs. So here's a brief recap on that. In the past I have really struggled and/or burned myself out trying to flip the switch from lots of endurance and tempo to speed. I love the former, and generally dread the latter. But this year I've benefitted from training smarter and having another year of fitness so the transition was much easier.

 

The first race in my "speed" block was Age Group Nationals in Toronto

 

Swim:

I had a good start with mostly clean water but just missed the main pack of contenders in the first 400m, either from lack of focus or swim speed. I spent the next 400 chasing like hell to catch them and at one point got within a couple seconds before it spread out again. So I settled into my own pace and eventually lost about 45 seconds to the group. Fortunately my "bad" swims are significantly better than they used to be so I was still ok with a 22:50 swim on quite a stupid swim course. Not my best 1500, but I'll take it.

 

Bike:

I kind of picked up on the bike where I left off in the swim. Leaders up the road, trying like hell to make up some ground but my legs said no. Looking at my power data later it was significantly lower than I had hoped for and was disappointed that I have the potential to ride much faster than I did. But during the ride I decided to stop looking at my power and focus on staying aero and smooth and just get the bike done as quickly as possible.

 

(photo courtesy of Mario Rozansky)

 

Run:

Getting off the bike I hadn't yet made up my mind as to whether I was going to forget about the swim and bike and focus on the fact that I was still on pace for a great overall time...or mope and give up mentally. Lucky for me I was inundated with support and people yelling my name as I came through T2. The support was amazing and it inspired me to champ T2, and once on the run course I didn't have much choice but to keep up that pace.

 

Surprisingly my legs responded on the run and I settled into a decent rhythm through the first 3k. When I caught sight of the first athlete ahead of me I picked it up and started to feel strong at 5k. I drew some strength from the pass and set my sight on the next one, and worked my way through a number of runners. I kind of knew that I was having a good run and did not want the opportunity to slip away.



 

(photo: Theirry Guertin/his lovely wife and personal photographer Corinne)

 

Despite not having my best swim or bike, and despite just missing my 10k run split PB by a few seconds, I set a new Olympic distance PB and felt great all the way through the run. The support on course was amazing and teamLPC won the club challenge with our team's overall performances and picked up some good prize money! Not to mention Amanda also had a great race with a crazy fast bike split and took a podium spot at Nationals...strong chicka :)

 

Next up was K-Town Long Course two weeks later. I did K-Town in 2009 as a spur of the moment decision to keep my race motivation high while I was training with PTC Guelph that summer. I think every year since I've talked about doing the race again, and somehow 4 years have passed since. It really is a gem of a race with a ton of history (this year was the 30th anniversary!) and its always insanely competitive.

 

With the calibre of athletes on the start line I had no intention of trying to get in a lead pack or hanging onto anyone's feet, I just wanted to swim my own swim especially knowing that the 2km out and back course can be very choppy and disorienting.

 

Unfortunately I kind of threw that plan out the window right away with the first turn buoy less than 100m in. I wanted to get out of the congestion around the first turn but probably burned one too many matches. I spent the rest of the "out" section just trying to recover and settle into a smooth stroke.

 

I started the negative thought train of "why did I start so hard...why isn't this easier...when the hell is the turn around". But I gave myself a mental kick in the ass and found my swim form on my way back in. I remembered how long and awful this swim felt last time I did it and focused on getting through it better this time, even though the water was pretty rough again.

 

I got out of the water with a big group including a few pros, right on 30 minutes (and 5 minutes faster than last time!!) which I'm really happy with given the conditions and mental battle. Its pretty rare that I get GOOD surprises with my swim times...usually when I have to work really hard to get through a swim my time goes out the window. So I'll take it!



 

Onto the bike I kind of knew that I probably worked harder than I should have in the swim. But more on that later.

Through the first few k on the bike I was having similar trouble as in Toronto trying to get my power up early. Its not a great way to start a bike, especially a longer distance race, to be trying to force the numbers so early. I eventually managed to find some power but once again I don't think I really rode to my potential, especially given the numbers I am putting up in training. But Coach James and I have a plan to sort all that out before the next one. I also think part of long course racing is not only gaining experience with the distance but learning to translate training numbers into racing speed with all the variables over longer distances. My focus turned to just getting through the ride feeling ok, and I accomplished that finishing the (slightly shortened) bike with good endurance.

I was really excited to get on the run and see what I could do, but I was probably a little overconfident with my pacing strategy. I tried to keep things in check but starting out faster than my 10k pace may have been a little rich. I hit a serious wall at 4k and on came the negativity again "I trained too hard this week...I don't want to do anymore races this summer...I'm going to run over 60mins and I will hate myself forever." I was really close to walking up one hill until I convinced myself to try to hold it together. The turnaround at 7.5k came faster than I thought (partially because my stupid Garmin 10 told my I hadn't hit 6k yet) and when I made the turn I cleared my head and just picked up my feet.

When I took some time checks at the km marks I saw that I still had a chance to get under 1hr if I held it together, and sure enough I started to feel better heading back. At about 11k the long course run passed the short course run turnaround and I drew some motivation from passing people, even if they were near the back of a completely different race. I kept telling myself that the finish will come faster than I think so don't save anything up. And I was right! My best part of the race was my last 3km, and my official run time was 59:59...WOOHOO...although that also included T2 :) I was actually about 30sec slower than my last time here, likely because I paced much more conservatively last time, or I didn't realize until now how well I must have run then!

 (this is exactly how glamorous a long course finish is)

 

Overall it was not my best race ever, or fastest split time of any distance. But once again I'm happy with the result. When I decided to sign up for Muskoka 70.3, this race went from a high priority race to a really solid training event. Without even knowing or thinking about it during the race, I got exactly what I needed out of it. I took some risks with pacing which I will learn from and certainly won't be as reckless over the 70.3 distance, and when s**t hit the fan I won all of my mental battles and had a good swim and run...and a not bad bike. I know what needs work in the next 4 weeks and I'm excited to give Muskoka a go - the first time I have done two 70.3s in one year.