Vermilion Harbour Tri & Du - TriathlonSprint

The swim was great. I did better than i had anticipated and felt really confident after the first 100 meters. After waiting for the bulk of my wave to hit the water I grabbed a spot near the back and started going. Much to my surprise I was very quickly in the mix with everyone else. There wasn’t too much contact and it seemed that most resulted in a gentle slide off my wetsuit. Sighting was pretty minimal as I just checked that I had about the same number of folks on each side as I took a breath with the very occasional heads up look to find a buoy. The swim was over before I expected and I left the water feeling strong.

Not much... Perhaps given the results attempt to get out in front of the wave when entering the water.

So remember the tree I thought would help me find my bike and keep others from crowding me in... Well I was half right. I ran right to my spot with my goggles, etc in my sleeve and my suit half way down. Getting out of the suit was a breeze (body glide really does work). The not so breezy part of T1. It appears a few other folks had the same idea as me and there was very little space left to maneuver around the tree and all the other bikes in , eh hem... my space. It was about this time I also realized the standing in front of my bike was not going to work so I had to run about 20 meters around to the other side to put everything on. Socks, shoes, sun glasses, helmet... now time to grab the bike.

So one of the folks who thought it would be great to set up next to the tree didn’t have enough space to hook on the rack so they instead used their kickstand... on wet ground... when I started to move their bike to pull it off mine I found the reason it was leaning on my bike was because the kickstand sunk right into the ground when applying any pressure. So after struggling with their bike for far too long (and yes I did pull their seat right out of the post - so not my fault) I was off running out of the transition area.


Set up somewhere other than next to a tree. Don’t go to the front of the bike when all your stuff is behind it. As early I we got there I could have had one of the coveted inside end spots... Live and learn.

Really started feeling the lack of food in my system - I likely didn’t drink enough either.

Overall the bike was great! Lots of shade and good volunteer support. I raced hard but not to the limit and felt comfortable the whole way. I was passed by a few folks on the down hills but overtook more on the flats and up-hills. Nothing too eventful and again I was surprised when hitting the out and back end of the lolly. Dismount was effective but clumsy, must learn to kick foot off the back of the bike.


Not much. I was pretty happy with this effort. My nutrition could have been better to set me up for the run but overall I felt very good on the bike.

Nothing too remarkable here. I don’t really remember were I put my helmet during transition but found it on the ground after the race. I had better make sure next time that I am don't throw it on the ground to avoid messing up anyone else.

Be a little more aware of where my stuff is relative to others transitioning.

So I thought I was a runner... ;) The lack of good nutrition the day of and before the race really caught up with me on the run. Garmin had my first mile at 7:15 but I soon started feeling like the walking dead and slowed to 9:00 pace at one point. A few bad cramps and hunger pangs really did a number on my run. I did have a good kick at the end a nosed out as guy from my age group right at the finish line. I know I can do better than this and have in training bricks. Could have pushed it more on the run.

Nutrition - oh did I mention my broken foot and only 35 miles of running in the past 6 weeks. Ok... now I have.

A short dip in the lake and hanging with family.


Nutrition and experience. I could have easily saved 1:30 on the transitions with more experience and perhaps as much as 2:00 on the run with better nutrition and knowing my limits.


This really was a wonderful experience and one I was so happy to be able to share with my wife and family. Seeing my people as many times as I did was a great lift and enjoying the post race with them was awesome. Even if a certain 5 year old wouldn’t go swimming with Uncle Chris.

As my first tri, the experience couldn’t have been any better. I learned a lot, had great fun, and was proud of my effort and place. I will absolutely be back for more.