Thousand Island Triathlon - Olympic - 2006 - TriathlonOlympic


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Brockville, Ontario
Canada
Somersault Events
Precipitation
Total Time = 4h 11m 27s
Overall Rank = 138/138
Age Group = Men's Clyde 39-
Age Group Rank = 4/4
Pre-race routine:

Woke up, got into my race clothes, put on some BT.com temp tattoos and drove down to Brockville from Prescott. Listened to a little bit of Nickelback (when in Canada...) on the drive down. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the race venue and find my way around town through the closed roads. Met up with another racer while unloading my stuff and walked over to the transition area with him. After getting my stuff set up, I walked around a little bit, got marked and picked up my timing chip. After that, I ran into Jen (keepitup) and talked with her for a little bit. Went back to my bike to change into my jersey, put on my HRM strap, take off my shoes and dig out my goggles and swim cap. After that, I saw Michel (Machiavelo) and JP - I didn't chat long because I didn't want to hold them up from getting to the race sign in tent before they closed it.
Event warmup:

Mostly just chilling out and relaxing. I got into the water, slid down the boat ramp on my butt like everyone else (well, except for the couple of people that belly flopped into the river). I swam a little bit and was pleased by how good the visibility was. Less need to do much sighting. Instead of treading water (I wasn't wearing a wetsuit), I just stood on some rocks by shore and watched all the fish come up and sit on my feet.
Swim
  • 45m 32s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was an awesome swim. I swam really slowly, but I enjoyed it. That was my only goal for the day - fast or slow, just enjoy myself and have fun. The first loop went by well and I swam the second loop a little faster. Managed to inhale a bit of grass/seaweed stuff about halfway throught the first loop. My niece said that she could hear me hacking and coughing from shore. At one point, all I could smell was diesel fuel from one of the boats and that made me a wee bit pukey (number one reason why I barf when diving in the ocean), but it only lasted about 100 yards meters. I saw some scuba divers, who I'm guessing were going out to the wreck of the Gaskin (only a couple hundred yards further out into the river than the swim course). Coming back in from the second loop, I saw a school of perch that seemed to be pacing me back in (don't tell the race director), so that was really cool. I did think of Jen a little bit when I saw the scuba divers, but since it started getting me choked up a little bit, I tried to put that out of my head a.s.a.p. I can run choked up, but I haven't mastered that technique on the swim yet. One thing that was really cool was all of the spectators. It was neat to alternate from silence to a loud ruckus as I swam and breathed.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. I had fun. Who cares?
Transition 1
  • 03m 16s
Comments:

I just took my time and made sure that I didn't forget to put on my race belt this time. Since the event timers combined the Swim and T1 times, I used the T1 time from my HRM and subtracted it from my officially posted swim time.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Maybe start running during my transitions some day.
Bike
  • 1h 34m 45s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 15.74 mile/hr
Comments:

I wanted to finish the bike leg in less than 90 minutes. OK, so I had one race goal. I came pretty close. It's a beautiful course, there was plenty of support at the turn around areas for traffic control and much unlike the states, the drivers that were out on the course were actually very nice. I only saw a couple instances of 3 person pace lines, but for the most part, most people followed the rules. Kinda' cool to see for once. It was starting to rain as I got out onto the course and the wind changed direction a number of times, but all in all, it was a good ride. I couldn't keep my sunglasses clean, so I put them on the back of my neck. Since I haven't had the tri bike out on a rainy ride, I took some of the little downhills and flats a little more cautiously than normal (i.e. slower) just to be sure not to wipe out. There's a mailbox that looks like a bass fishing lure on Route 2 outside of Brockville and I laughed to myself each time I passed it. Jen and I had never seen anything like that when we first saw it 8 years ago. It's funny that it's still there, but just a bit faded. It always cracked her up to see it and it would be the first thing we looked for when we got into town. The only real distraction on the course was "Bud the Spud." The smell of french fries usually makes me gag (4.5 years in the fast food business in high school and college), but for whatever reason it made me want to stop and get some. I rode on figuring I could get some at the pub after the race. I only dropped my chain once as I was approaching town and shortly thereafter I got my feet out of my shoes and gave my toes a little bit of fresh air. I did hear one funny thing at that point though - it sounded like I had a playing card stuck in my rear wheel. I looked down and saw my left bike shoe insole mostly out of my shoe. About an inch of insole under my heel was the only thing keeping it with me. I reached down and put it in my back pocket. It was cool to give a shout out during the bike course to JP and Jen and Michel and the guy that parked by me.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. I finished it only a small bit slower than I hoped I would.
Transition 2
  • 02m 9s
Comments:

Again, I took my time and made sure not to forget anything. I did have to run back 10 yards when I ralised that I still had my sunglasses on the back of my neck and my left insole in my jersey pocket (not that I thought I would be faster, but I didn't want to loose them). Since the event timers combined the Run and T2 times, I used the T2 time from my HRM and subtracted it from my officially posted run time.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 1h 45m 46s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 17m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

I just wanted to run/walk this one. Run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, etc. I managed to do that for the whole thing. It was a nice course and a good challenge. I kept up a 9:30 min/km pace on the first loop. I have a laminated picture of Jen in her "F#@k Leukemia" t-shirt that I've been carrying with me during my races since last summer, so I took it out of my zippered jersey pocket and held it in my hand knowing that I was going to need some of her strength to get though the 10k with a good attitude. It helped, but I could only sneak peaks of it when no one was looking because I'd get choked up and I didn't want anything thinking I was in pain from running - 'cause I wasn't. My niece wanted to tag along for the second loop and since I couldn't talk her out of it and the race official said it was OK, I relented. We had a nice chat about racing (triathlon, running, BMX racing), and shipwrecks and of course "Aunt Jen." After the 4th question in a row about Jen I had to ask her to stop because it was really getting a little too difficult. Once I got to the "Beer Store" (yep, that's what it's called), I ran the rest of the way to the finish. Thankfully, Michel told them that I was still out on the course because they were getting ready to start tearing down the finish line... Speaking of Michel, he had me in stitches the couple of times I saw him on the run course.
What would you do differently?:

"Run Lots" I guess.
Post race
Warm down:

Changed into some dry clothes, got my bike off the ground (they had already taken down the racks by the time I finished) and went out to lunch with my niece, Michel and JP. I had a blast at lunch talking with them. Went back to the hotel room to get cleaned up and then took my niece back to Centeen Park so that she could ride her bike a little bit. Because "she wasn't going to bring her bike the whole way to Canada and not ride it." :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Training hasn't been a high priority for me this year. About half the events I signed up for were just to keep me training in one way or another. The other half were events that I wanted to do last year, but didn't get to. This race was a little bit of both for me.

Event comments:

Awesome race. One of the best put together events I've done. Much better doing it in person than by myself at home like last year... And yes, I made sure to thank all of the volunteers that I saw on the course.




Last updated: 2006-03-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:45:32 | 1640 yards | 02m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 4/4
Overall: 136/138
Performance: Average
HR Max 168, HR Avg 152
Suit: Trishort, sleeveless top
Course: Two clockwise loops of a triangle course in a small bay/cove in the St. Lawrence river. Fairly well protected and only some small waves near the last turn buoy. Not much current. All Oly distance athletes started together.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:16
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:34:45 | 24.85 miles | 15.74 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/4
Overall: 133/138
Performance: Good
HR Max 182, HR Avg 172
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Rolling course, mostly flat, between Brockville and the far side of Maitland. Oly distance was two loops.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:09
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:45:46 | 06.2 miles | 17m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/4
Overall: 138/138
Performance: Below average
HR Max 177, HR Avg 168
Course: Fairly flat course along the river front from Centeen Park to St. Lawrence Park and back. Two loops for the Oly distance race.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5