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 Swim
Comments: I had many choices as to where to begin my swim. I chose to do so with water at mid-thigh level, not too far back and close to the buoys. I began swimming fast for the first 200m or so and found good feet to draft from for another 750m or so. There was a bit of a chop throughout the swim. I got slowed down a bit by current after the first turn. The rest of the swim was uneventful except for me kicking and punching a few people before the third turn. I would have been thrilled with a 40 minute swim but I'm very happy with what I've done. It was a good swim for me overall. What would you do differently?: Nothing, I was really pleased with my swim.  Transition 1
Comments: T1 began with a long, heart rate raising uphill run to the transition area. I didn't stop to have my wetsuit removed by the strippers at the swim exit. I kind of regret not having done so because it took me a while to remove the damn thing by myself. My folks said jokingly that the wetsuit stripping area looked like there was a brawl going on, lol! I decided hit the port-a-potty before heading out on the bike course and to put on my super light rain jacket beforehand. I wore my cycling knickers over my tri shorts during the swim. I took my sweet time in T1 since my race goal was to have fun and finish the race on the vertical and with a smile. What would you do differently?: Take advantage of the wetsuit stripping "service".  Bike
Comments: Having done a recon ride the weekend before on this beautiful but oh so challenging bike course has helped a lot. It allowed me to plan my nutrition timing accordingly and to pace myself throughout. I consumed a little over 700 calories on the bike. I had one Triple Threat Power Bar (225 cal), 48 ounces of Ice Blue Gatorade (390 cal), one chocolate GU gel (100 cal) 5km before the end of the bike and about 24 ounces of water. I only stopped in Baysville to get more water just in case. The weather conditions slowed me down a little. I was hoping for a 3h30 split but resigned myself to take it easy and save my legs for the last hilly 24km and the run. On the last few hills, I passed people who passed me on the downhills and flatter sections of the bike course. At no point in time did I walk a hill, yay!!! I was even looking forward to tackle the two hills I had issues with on my recon ride the week before at km 74 and 79. There were lots of supporters and volunteers standing in the rain throughout the course to cheer us up; they were simply amazing! What would you do differently?: Nothing, I didn't want to compromise my safety under the prevailing weather conditions. Transition 2
Comments: I usually ride with my feet on top of my shoes at the end of the bike leg but chose not to do so this time around in case my supporting leg would give way while getting off the bike. Running with my bike shoes on was a bit painful. I forgot to take off my cycling capris before putting my running shoes on... sigh... Remove the shoes and the capris, put the shoes back on and off I went. I lost one of my fuel belt bottles just as I was about to cross the mat heading out on the run course but went back to retrieve it. What would you do differently?: Visualize before the race how T2 should have been.  Run
Comments: My legs were doing surprisingly well on the run. I was even running the uphills! I was picking up the pace and was doing pretty well up until just passed the 10km mark. I began experiencing pain at the base of the neck and in my right trapezius; the pain was shooting straight to my head at times. It could not have been the nutrition, I was well hydrated and had a gel at 7km. I slowed down and walked for a few minutes with the hopes that the pain would go away, to no avail. I was doing 5/1's for a while but the pain was still there. I drank the Gatorade I had, took two Tylenol caplets but nothing would do. The impact generated by my running foot strike was making things worse. So I proceeded in walking more than running a couple of kilometres before I got on the golf course for the last 5km. Tasso, a man from Pointe-Claire who was experiencing GI distress, kindly kept me company during this stretch and a couple of other people joined us as well. Tasso and I ran the entire last kilometre slowly together. It was great to cross the finish line and see Mom and Dad waiting for me. I got my finisher's medal, shirt and finisher's hat. What would you do differently?: Not much I could have done differently at this point. The neck and trapezius pain was something I had a very difficult time managing. Post race
Warm down: Had a bottle of chocolate milk for recovery, walked around the site, spoke to my folks. I went for the post-race food table, still lots left... I stretched for a bit while waiting in line for the food and sat down to chow it down. I then went to the transition area to pick up my things and we headed back to the cottage. My parents and I had a post-race BBQ dinner at the cottage with lots of wine to celebrate my achievement. What limited your ability to perform faster: The pain in my neck and right trapezius. Event comments: I had a great time throughout the weekend despite the weather conditions encountered on race day. On the other hand, we were better off having warmer temperatures with the rain because if the race was to be held the next day, it would have been raining and cold. Since the race had sold out two months after it was announced, I was surprised to see that close to 400 athletes did not show up on race day. The race venue is beautiful, well organized and the volunteers and supporters were wonderful! You could feel how involved the different communities along the course were. I am toying with the idea of signing up for this race again next year and will stay closer to the race venue this time around. I have a couple of weeks to think about it. Profile Album Last updated: 2007-08-10 12:00 AM
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Canada
World Triathlon Corporation / Trisport North
20C / 68F
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 1079/1299
Age Group = Women 40 - 44
Age Group Rank = 64/85
Pre-race routine, Day 1, Friday evening. I drove to the cottage in Kearney, said hi to my folks and unloaded my car. I freshened up a bit and headed to Huntsville to proceed with race registration and to meet fellow BTer CathyD and her hubby at the athlete's welcome banquet. The food was good and it was a good opportunity to talk about our race expectations. We also met with another fellow BTer morgan8271 and her friend before we left.
Pre-race routine, Day 2, Saturday. Woke up at 7:30, got out of bed an hour later and had breakfast with Mom and Dad. I wanted to do a practice swim on the lake at the cottage because I didn't feel like being rushed by time restrictions imposed at the race site; the swim practice was ending at noon over there. So I put my wetsuit on, Mom and Dad got into the canoe and off we went. I swam for a little over 1000m. I cleaned up and we left the cottage to head to Huntsville. I asked my folks to drop me by the side of the road on our way there so that I could do my 20 minute bike ride. I checked my bike in and we did a race site walkthrough thereafter. We also stopped at the race expo where I bought a couple of mugs, two Polar water bottles, socks, spare tubes and a melino wool sweater. I got my picture taken with Lisa Bentley as well. We left the race site at around 15:00, stopped for some grocery shopping and headed back to the cottage. I devoured the spaghetti my mom made, she makes the best ever! After dinner, I went for a 15 minute run. I prepared my nutrition and bags before heading to bed. Scary highlight of the day: I banged my left foot on the bed post pretty hard and thought the toe next to the pinky one was fractured. It was swollen, tender and red but I was able to walk on it. I iced it every hour after we got back to the cottage.
Pre-race routine, Race Day, Sunday. I got up at 4:15, showered and ate a 700 calories breakfast (banana, peach, chocolate Boost, breakfast pita, almond butter, coffee). My toe was doing a little better but it was still very sore. I packed my bags, said goodbye to my dad who was already up and left at 5:45. I parked my car to the airport strip, hopped on the shuttle bus and entered the race site at 6:30. I got body marked and set up my transition spot. I covered pretty much everything with plactic bags as it had rained the night before and the forecast was calling for more of the watery stuff during the day. I went to the port-a-potty and caked my lady parts with chamois cream. I put my cycling knickers over my trishorts, downed a Power Bar with water before leaving the transition area, grabbed my wetsuit and walked towards the beach for the swim start even though my wave was leaving a little later on.
Walked towards the swim start, stretched and waited in the water for the start.