This is going to be a long blog post, since I’m done my season and have decided to start a blog. My hope is that some day someone will want to read about my races, trials and tribulations, successes, and failures. The benefit of writing this now is that having completed the season I think I have more perspective on my first races and can give a better race report.
Race 1- Victoria’s Duathlon, Waterloo, May 21st (4km run, 30km bike, 4km run)
This was my first race of 2012 and first duathlon of my life. Since I was coming back from a stress fracture in my right tibia, I had not been back on the running scene for long- a few weeks at most. The race was 4km run, 30km bike, and 4km run. I hadn’t yet run 8km in one day so I was nervous. I don’t have much to say about this race as everything went according to plan. (The plan was to run, bike, run- nothing to it) My legs were sore but that seems to be a never-ending state of being. I ran the first 4km in sub 16 minutes, coming into the bike portion in the lead of the females (of my wave). I had biked the course a few times as I attend the University of Waterloo and live quite close to the race site- this gave me an added advantage as I knew what to expect. On the other hand, I had only bought a road bike on the second weekend of May, so I am not a good cyclist. I put in a good effort on the bike but was nowhere close to maintaining my lead of the women. The second run went better than expected and I managed to pass several people. I had no expectations prior to the race so was pleased with a fourth overall finish on the women’s side and winning my age group.
Milton Triathlon- June 3rd, Milton (Sprint Distance- 750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run)
This was the first triathlon of the year and I was pretty nervous for the swim start. I did one triathlon last year on a whim (no road bike, no wetsuit, no training) and did not start in the first wave so this was going to be a new experience. I had read that they could be pretty crazy, but that was an understatement. I started in the first wave and positioned myself in the middle of the pack- bad idea. I was borrowing a friends’ wetsuit which was slightly too big for me, so it wasn’t keeping me warm and felt like it was dragging me down (I had also never worn a wetsuit before). Swimming with males is crazy. They don’t care about hitting you, swimming over you, pushing you down into the water (no offense guys but you’re not very nice to swim with). I don’t start out fast in the swim as I prefer to keep an even pace, which is not the strategy of most. As a result I was getting pushed around and some guy kept pushing down on my back and it felt like he was going to drown me. I was panicking quite a bit within the first 200m and this made for a terrible race. The saying “you can’t win the race on the swim, but you can lose it” definitely applied. I was breathing every second stroke, which any swimmer will tell you is not good, and could not for the life of me swim in a straight line. By the time I exited the water I was drained of energy and questioning why on earth I ever thought triathlons would be fun. I was able to focus on the race again once getting on my bike and managed to get up the massive hill on 6th line without walking my bike- which I felt was a true accomplishment. =) I put in a solid effort on the bike but once getting to the run I definitely began to feel the full effects of my disastrous swim. I plugged along on the run and my legs loosened up on the second half (which was also a net downhill which helped) and finished the race it what I felt was a pretty good time. I was fourth woman overall and first in my age group (same result as the duathlon- consistency is key?).
Had I written this right after my race I would have told you I had a terrible swim but everything else went great- but having completed the season I feel I have learned a lot about racing and what I am capable of so can conclude that this was not a great performance. The comments I got in the following days from friends were “you can swim WAY faster than that” and “what happened on the run?” ah well….
Guelph Lake One- Olympic Distance Triathlon, June 17th
I was SUPER nervous for this race- the day before I assured everyone I would do terribly and that I wasn’t fit enough to do it. Secretly I was hoping and dreaming but not expecting for top 10 in the women’s side. The day dawned with stormy skies and a chill to the air. Waiting in transition we got some rain, but thankfully it blew over with about 10 minutes until the start of the race and didn’t ever amount to much during the race. Learning from my horrible experience in Milton I started the swim way to the outside. This was a GREAT choice and I really enjoyed the swim- I can’t say I swam in a straight line here either, but I exited the water tied with another woman for 2nd and 3rd women out of the water. The bike was fairly easy on the way out, a few rolling hills and the wind was behind me. Turning around and coming back was not as easy- right into the wind and I don’t have aerobars =( I made it although I was pretty tired coming back into transition, in third or fourth place for the women- I can’t remember. I was super happy with this as I didn’t expect anyone to pass me on the run so it looked like my hopes and dreams of top 10 were coming true. I set out at a good pace on the run, mostly just enjoying it. There are two out and backs on the run course and when I was on the first one I saw how much I was gaining on the other women so I really picked up the pace. At about 5km I passed the second place women, and at about 7km I passed first place- incredible!!! I was running alongside another competitor and we finished the race just seconds apart, which was great as we set a pretty good clip for the last couple of kilometers. (I actually thought I heard one of the women coming up behind me so I was giving it everything- turns out it was another guy and I had nothing to worry about). So I felt I had a great race and to top it off I won a Polar RCX5 GPS watch for winning the women’s race! It was awesome! =D
Toronto Triathlon Festival (TTF), Olympic Distance Triathlon, July 22nd
I had six weeks leading up until this race after Guelph. This was the biggest race of the season for me as it was the qualifier for Worlds 2013. I planned out my training loosely so that I was building up for a few weeks and then tapering. As luck would have it the week right before TTF things just fell into place for me not doing very much. Usually I hate tapering as I get really antsy, but I didn’t this time. 4am on Sunday morning I rose to get ready for the race- I was coming from Hamilton as I was getting a ride with my brother. The race started at 7am. Our Olympians Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay were there as this was the inaugural TTF. It was really awesome being able to see them in action- they started a few minutes to seven and did the sprint distance course so that we weren’t in their way. I was in one of the later waves which meant things weren’t as crazy for the swim and having so many people in front of me made sighting easier. This was my best swim yet and I think I was the first person from my wave out of the water. The bike course is extremely flat so I was able to put in a good fast time and head into the run. The run wasn't particularly great for me as I was having trouble breathing- it felt like I was allergic to something in the air so that my lungs felt like they were about half the size they should be. I didn’t think about anything other than breathing in and out the entire run, but still had a good time as the route was also very flat- it was an out-and-back along the lakeshore. I was fairly certain that I was the first woman across the finish line for the olympic distance triathlon, but it was hard to tell as there were also duathletes crossing the finish line who had started 15 minutes before my wave. The results were finally posted which confirmed that I had won the women’s race!! This was an awesome experience. My brother also came second in the men’s race so I was super excited for him too! (and I feel it pertinent to mention that he forgot his bike shoes so had to bike in his running shoes!)
Bracebridge Triathlon- Olympic Distance, August 12th
I wasn’t sure I was going to do this race but decided with a couple weeks to go that I would go for it. My training wasn’t really where I would have liked it for this race as I had planned my training around TTF so wasn’t sure what to be doing after (Rest? Keep at it? Tapering?) but things went well anyways. I got home from university on the Saturday to a pleasant surprise that my wetsuit had arrived in the mail the day before. As such, this was the first race where I had a properly fitting, full-body wetsuit. It made a HUGE difference! The weather co-operated for the race- which was great as the day before they had cancelled the bike portion of the sprint distance triathlon due to excessive rain. The swim portion of the race was in the river and I had a huge PB thanks to the wetsuit. It was a time trial start as well which meant no fighting with the masses to get a spot. I got kicked in the face once so had to stop and get my goggles back on- but no sweat. The bike course was extremely challenging with hills and a couple of small sections of not very well paved road and I got off the bike with my legs being rather tired. It took a couple of kilometers for my legs to loosen up on the run and do their thing but my brother had told me prior to the race he expected I could come top 3 (there were some pros and elites at the race so I was doubting how well I would do) so I gave it everything on the run. I came away with a PB in the run also (although the course was short as usual). I came second overall out of the women and I feel this was my best race of the year. Although a slightly slower overall time than TTF, the course was much more challenging and I feel I put in a lot more effort- especially on the bike. This was my last triathlon of the season and I was pleased to end off on a good note.
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