Triathlon by the Sea - Olympic Course - Triathlon

The swim was an on beach start and two clockwise loops of a triangular course. It was windy and there was some chop and waves but nothing crazy. As soon as we started I went a bit hard but not too bad as I was immediately clear of the others. After a couple of minutes we got out into the area where the waves were rolling quite a bit more. I was able to maintain a steady rhythm with only the odd wave catching my arm but I would imagine it was tough on some of the weaker swimmers. I kept a good steady effort without pushing too hard.

Just before the 2nd buoy we had to go over a sandbar - did a few dolphin dives and back to swimming around the buoy. Had to run around the 3rd buoy to finish the loop and I took a look behind me - I had a fairly good gap to the next swimmer but didn't know if it was a sprint or olympic racer. Ran about 50m down the beach before getting back in the water. Second loop was the same as the first - a few dolphin dives over the sandbar. As I ran up the beach after finishing I took another look and couldn't see anyone between me and the 2nd turn buoy so I knew I had at least a couple of mins lead.

Edited to add that the course was clearly a bit short. Best I can do in a pool has been 20:00 flat so 18:40 in wavy water plus a short run up the beach to the timing mat means short. I'm going to guess 1300-1400 meters is more likely.

Nothing

Loooong run from the beach to transition - probably 400-500 meters over grass. Tried to go quickly but also wanted to keep my HR in check. By the time I got to transition most of the bikes were gone as most were doing the sprint so I had lots of room.

There was about a 50m section from T1 to the mount line that was old broken pavement and gravel that was really hard on the feet so I decided to put my shoes on in transition rather than my usual flying mount and dismount.

Probably could have run a bit quicker but not bad. 5/19 overall

Holy windy! That is the most I've ever been blown around on my bike during a race.

Got out of the park and settled into my target power of 240-250 right away. A few 90 degree turns and then I was out onto the main loop of the course. The first part of it was downwind and I was almost out of gears on the flats. Then, about 10 mins into the ride the nose of my saddle suddenly dropped down about 30 degrees! (Pic attached). I was shocked and wasn't sure what to do - I tried reaching down and hauling it back up but it wouldn't move much. I knew I didn't have the right tools to fix it so I just kept riding and hoped it would be ok. Over the next hour it slowly dropped down a bit more and I was constantly sliding myself back. My shoulders were taking all of my weight so they got really sore and tight.

For the first loop there were lots of other riders around and lots of people suffering into the wind on the uphills on their road bikes with no aerobars. I was riding in the small ring pushing 270 in some places - unpleasant. The last section of the loop was a strong gusty crosswind from the left. This is where I really got blown around. I was glad there was little car traffic so I could just ride in the middle of the road for the most part. 235w for loop 1

As soon as I started the second loop I was on my own. A few times after making a turn I looked behind me but never saw anyone until close to the end of the 3rd loop. I was surprised as I knew there were a couple of really strong riders in the race and I expected them to catch me. 238w for loop 2 and 225w for loop 3. The saddle was really starting to affect me for that one and a few times I coasted while trying to adjust it. My right hamstring and calf were threatening to cramp on me from the weird angles too. I was a bit worried what that would feel like out on the run.

Appease the saddle gods before the race? I was happy with the power output and felt strong.

I have no idea why this took so long since it was short but everyone's times were long so I guess we are all just slow. :)

Got to my spot on the rack only to find no room for my bike and I couldn't see my shoes - thought maybe I was in the wrong row but nope it was just chaos. Threw my bike into an open spot and dug through the piles of stuff to get my shoes, visor and glasses. Felt like I was in and out pretty quick. 6/19 overall.

Target pace starting out was 4:35/km.

About 3/4 through the first KM a guy ran past me like a freight train and asked if anyone was ahead of me - nope, you are it man. He ended up running 37 mins - sheesh.

First KM split was 4:32 and felt good. Second KM was a bit uphill and 4:36. Still felt really good but told myself to be patient - maintain that effort and pace until the 5k turnaround and then see what happens. 4:32, 4:27, 4:38 to the 5k. I was passed again around the 4.5k mark to put me in 3rd place. At the 5k I decided to try to push the pace just a bit - next two splits were 4:35s - at least I was holding the pace, even though the effort went up. At around the 5.5k mark the 4th place runner went by me going the other direction. Some quick math told me it was going to be close as I knew he was a super strong runner (2:3x marathon guy). Basically I had 4.5 km to go with a 4 min lead and a guy likely running 45-60s/km faster than me.... At this point I thought I had a decent chance if I could pick it up a bit. Kept running hard but my next split was 4:48 which surprised me because I didn't feel like I had slowed down. At this point there was a short out and back on a dirt road, about 1 min each way and as I was leaving the dirt road Scott was entering it - now I was pretty sure he would catch me but I wanted to make him work for it. Next split was 4:30 and I was hurting but I didn't dare look back to see where he was. With 500 meters to go I could hear feet behind me and around 400 to go he passed me - ugh. Ended up 20 seconds back for 4th place. At least I made him run a 37 min 10k to catch me. :)

Final time of 45:10 is a 10k PR for me, open race or tri. I have to thank my coach, Shane MacLeod (gsmacleod on BT) of ScotiaMultisport for that! He has totally changed my ability to run this year. So happy with that!

I dunno, it went pretty well. :) Maybe turn that 4:48 split into a 4:28 in the 8th km.

Sat in a chair


a 45 degree tilt on my saddle