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 Swim
Comments: It was a decent start for me, I was smooth in the water and bilateral breathing well. I have to learn to get over getting knocked around and just swim my race. I wasn't kicking really in order not to get out of breath (I have a kicking problem). I got out of the water at the 500m mark and things felt okay. The wheels kind of fell off in the next lap where I got tired and had a bit of a hard time getting my breath. I fell further back in the pack, and breaststroked a bit. I finished, which is the important thing... What would you do differently?: I dunno. I need to swim more and concentrate on keeping my form when I get tired. Also, I need to ignore all the people who swim into me (of course, it's all their fault, I swim like I'm on a rail).  Transition 1
Comments: I had the top of my suit off 20 feet out of the water. We had to run around the edge of the transition area in order to make it fair for all competitors. I sat my arse down on the grass to get my wetsuit off my ankles. Then the shoes and helmet went on and I was off. Things went pretty smoothly. The bike start was really narrow though, so there was a bit of a blockage at the start. I had trouble getting into my pedals, but it was not very costly because I just kept moving. What would you do differently?: Practice getting the suit off. Think through the whole process a bit better. I have a ways to go before 30 seconds in transition is going to be more important than not sucking in one of the other disciplines.  Bike
Comments: I was panting like a husky on a hot day at the start of the bike leg. The first 500 metres is uphill, which I could have done without. I found the first lap (of 3) to be the hardest. There are lots of hills on this course and the last one of the lap was a brutal steep and long bugger. Lots of suffering was going on there. I granny geared it up rather than getting on my pedals (except on the last lap). I was feeling like I should drink, drink, drink, so I did and I choked on my gatorade at one point. I think I over drank. I took a gel about halfway through, and that was pretty unpleasant. I don't mind the gel, but ultimately gooey pasty stuff when your mouth isn't exactly watering is not nice. I felt good in the aerobars and my speed was decent. I met Steve (sauna66) on the ride, which was cool. When you get to the end of each lap, they force you into a narrow chute and make you perform a relatively low speed 90 degree turn. Apparently at least one person ate shit in that corner. I had a guy pass me only feet from the chute on the right side, which was dangerous. I was aligned to go in, so there was no passing lane and he really squeezed passed at the last second. He should have gotten a penalty, I think. What would you do differently?: More hills. Transition 2
Comments: I again had trouble getting one of my shoes out of the pedal. Then I turned at the wrong spot to go back to the transition area. When you are elite like me, those seconds can cost you the race! It was a quick transition. I took off my helmet, put on my shoes and I was out. What would you do differently?: Not be stupid. Unclip both feet before stopping.  Run
Comments: I suck! I suck! I suck! My legs were made of cement and I got passed by what seemed like the entire field. I kept telling myself to speed up, and I couldn't manage it. I think my mind defeats me in races. I need to work on that. I ran the whole way, but it wasn't like a fast walker couldn't have kept up. At what you think is the end of this race you realize that there is another 800 metre loop to do in order to get the full 7 km. This is bad enough without the first 400 metres running uphill. The poor guy in front of me had his spirit broken, he just started walking. I made it to the top of the hill and got passed by a man and a girl. As we went down the hill I was telling myself that I couldn't let them pass me at the end like that. So, about 150 metres from the end, I sprinted it out. I passed both of them, but the girl only barely. I was surprised at how much I had left to be able to do that sprint. I think I am mentally weak. I think I should have been able to go harder on the run. What would you do differently?: Practice going harder. Post race
Warm down: Drink gatorade and chat with friends and fellow racers. What limited your ability to perform faster: My mind. Event comments: I really liked this race. I would recommend it. Yes they ran a bit late, but the atmosphere is great and they do not lack for sponsors. They need more porta potties, because, frankly, it was a nightmare inducing experience to use one of those things. I considered going in my wetsuit, but I think that is really something I would only do as a very last resort. The goody bag included a day pass to a swedish bath house (only weekdays) and a t-shirt. Last updated: 2006-04-27 12:00 AM
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Canada
21C / 70F
Overcast
Overall Rank = 149/209
Age Group = 30-39
Age Group Rank = 50/59
Natasha and I stayed at my parents' cottage the night before the race because it is only 20 minutes from the race site as opposed to 1.5 hours from our house. I left work early Friday afternoon to enjoy some time at the lake and to relax the night before the race. It was hot and humid and the forecast was for rain Saturday. I was a bit bummed and starting to take the bad weather that I get for my races personally. We went for a dip in the lake. It was bracing, so I knew that the race would be wetsuit legal.
I woke up around 5ish and snoozed until 6. I had trouble sleeping the night before but even though I lacked sleep I was pretty excited to get going. The same couldn't be said for Nat, who had a bit of a hard time getting up.
It was drizzling, a good English drizzle with low cloud cover. I was unimpressed. I couldn't really care less about the weather when I'm racing, but I fear losing my lone fan if this crap race weather keeps up.
I decided to eat what I eat during the week, fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereal. It was good, but I ate less than normal, which may have come back to bite me in the ass later on.
I don't know why, but one of my biggest stress factors before a race is making sure I don't have to do #2 at the site. It wasn't an issue, but man, it pre-occupied my mind.
I had prepared my Gatorade and water bottles the night before, so it was really just a matter of getting into my tri suit and taking off. We left for the site at 7 sharp and got there at 7:20.
I was very surpised at how many people were already at the race site. The setting is the old village of Mont Tremblant. It's on a small lake in the "mountainous" Laurentians North of Montreal. It's very green and beautiful.
It was still drizzling when we arrived and it was cool enough that I wished I'd brought a fleece with me.
I set up my transition after getting marked and picking up my chip. It had stopped raining by this point. The transition area was on a nice grassy spot by the beach. They'd set up a stage that was playing pretty loud music, next to it was a Salomon tent for food after the event and on the other side a purveyor of energy drinks. The area was devided by Elites, Teams and age group competitors.
I went for a little jog to warm up only to find out that our start was delayed by 20 minutes. It turned out to be more like an hour. It would have been a miserable delay in the rain, but we were lucky. The first racers were under 9, then u11, u13 and u15, if I'm not mistaken. It was fun to cheer the kids on. There was a little 7 year-old girl competing!
I stretched, jumped around, basically pretended I was some kind of athlete.
Finally we got the call to go to the beach!