Update + Bracebridge Race Report

The last couple of weeks

Social media makes it very easy to believe that every other athlete is out there putting in 'epic' workouts day in and day out without rest, recovery days, or bad workouts. Because this isn't the case I have written a very candid report of the last 3 weeks of my training, which have gone, in all honesty, terribly.

A few days before the race in NYC three weeks ago I started to feel slightly low on energy, although I brushed it off as pre-race nerves (which may or may not have been the reason). The race itself did not go well and I was frustrated with the result, mostly because the effort level and resulting splits did not seem to match up. However, these things happen and I was (mentally) ready to get into another hard block of training in preparation for Timberman 70.3 (which is next weekend).

I did the normal recovery routine post-race, although I did not bounce back as quickly or as well as I have in the past. The next couple of weeks seemed to be a continual downward trend in performance, although my list of excuses for it was as long as Santa’s naughty list. I told myself to stop being a wuss, things would be better tomorrow. Always ‘tomorrow.’ Unfortunately ‘tomorrow’ never came and workouts became poorer and even difficult to finish. Still I maintained that I was just being a wimp and that nothing was actually wrong.

Last weekend was intended to be a hard few days of training in Collingwood. Friday was okay (just okay, I survived at least). However, on Saturday’s bike ride I self-imploded by the 40km mark and was sent home early, where I spent the next 14 hours practically comatose in my bed. I have NEVER cut a bike ride short because I was tired, so I was rather unhappy with myself; but I was EXHAUSTED (not a word I use lightly). Sunday and Monday were taken very easy, with the intention of getting back at things on Tuesday. A few minutes into Tuesday morning’s swim practice it became very evident that 2 days had not been enough and my body was still in a hole (more like a gigantic crater). My coach got wind of this and told me to take the rest of the week off. This was very hard to take mentally but I knew it was for the best, so I spent the rest of the week doing nothing. This was actually the lowest weekly training volume I have had in 5 years.

There are likely a number of reasons that contributed to how I was feeling. While on paper the training I have been doing this season makes sense, with gradual progressions in duration and intensity, our bodies are not machines there is no magic plan that works for everyone. Perhaps mental stress played a role. Blood work results indicate that dietary changes need to be made. Maybe I really just needed a couple more rest days. Regardless of the reasons, the down time served its purpose and I was excited to go to a fun, no-stress race in Bracebridge.

The Race

Bracebridge is one of my favourite races on the Multisport Canada circuit and I try to make it out every year that I can, so was happy to be here this weekend.

The swim is a time-trial start, with the pros/elites starting 15 seconds apart. As my luck would have it, Angela was starting 15 seconds behind me. I knew if there was ever a race that I could get on her feet it would be this one and that was really the only goal of the day. About 500m in both Sean Bechtel and Angela caught me, with Sean leading the way. I tried to jump in with the two, but this didn’t last long before Sean had dropped us both and I swam the rest of the way with Angela. #goalachieved

I didn’t rush with my transition and therefore needed to chase Angela down on the bike, although there wasn’t a huge gap so it didn’t take long. About 7km along I actually made the pass and enjoyed the bike course the rest of the way. As I still felt like I was on the edge of the hole that I had been in all week I didn’t push the pace but chose to simply enjoy the fact that I was racing on some of the best roads in Ontario. Coming back past Santa’s village provided some excitement as a local person (not a racer) on their mountain bike decided to cross over to the wrong side of the road and ride directly at me as I was going 50km+/hr down that hill; I swerved to avoid him and not 10 seconds later a pick-up truck pulled out from a parking lot, blocking both the on-coming traffic in the opposite lane and then stopping in my lane as he saw me, completely blocking the entire road. I slammed on my brakes and slid through the sand on the side of the road, safely making it around the blockage. Gotta keep me on my toes I guess?

Onto to run I felt pretty crummy, although having not run for an entire week this was not a surprise. Again, no need to overly exert myself, just a solid effort to close out the race.

finishing up

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me thus-far:  Nineteen wetsuits, Blade Carbon Wheels, LouisGarneau, Skeckers, C3, Multisport Canada, and Wishbone Athletics.

Next weekend I will be headed to a very competitive race at Timberman 70.3, the rest of the season is TBD.